When is England v Croatia, as Pickford returns and Modric left out
Sides set to play out Nations League game behind closed doors
England face a familiar foe in Croatia this weekend in their latest Nations League match, which is set to see Jordan Pickford recalled.
Listen to this article
The two sides met as recently as June when the Three Lions won their World Cup group match 4-2 in Dallas, but both teams are expected to field quite different line-ups for the game in Rijeka.
Pickford will return between the sticks after watching James Trafford start the opening two games against Spain and Czechia, which saw a 2-3 home defeat and 0-2 away win, respectively.
Jude Bellingham started Tuesday’s match against Czechia on the bench but looks certain to come back into the side, with Ezri Konsa also likely to return in the defence after overcoming a niggle.
Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka have started both games so far, and Tuchel could contemplate swapping them, with Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Rio Ngumoha and Morgan Gibbs-White among those hoping to start.
Slaven Bilic is back in charge for a second spell at Croatia and left veteran midfielder Luka Modric out of Tuesday’s match against Spain, which the side lost 4-1 in Seville.
Croatia beat Czechia 1-2 in Prague in the Group 3 opener, to put them level on points with England. The top two sides will advance to next year's Nations League final and the bottom-ranked sides face relegation.
When is Croatia v England?
Croatia v England is at 5pm on Saturday, October 3, and will be shown on ITV.
Why is it behind closed doors?
The clash in Rijeka is officially supposed to be played behind closed doors as punishment for Croatian fans displaying racist behaviour in a 2025 match against France.
However, there will be more than 6,000 people in attendance, as UEFA rules state schoolchildren can attend with adult supervision at a ratio of 15 to adult.
There will also be 100 England fans in attendance after long-serving members of the supporters club were rewarded.