England vs Croatia World Cup 2018: Three surprises Gareth Southgate could spring to probable starting line-up

With the Croatian midfield dominating so far, Southgate may be considering some shock changes

It’s England’s biggest game in 28 years, since their last World Cup semi-final at Italia ’90, and Gareth Southgate has some big decisions to make ahead of the colossal game with Croatia.

Southgate has a settled idea of his starting XI, with only an injury to Dele Alli’s injury and wholesale changes against Belgium in the final game of the group disrupting that.

However, with Belgium putting out their B team, Croatia arguably represent the toughest obstacle England have had in front of them so far, so will Southgate shuffle his pack accordingly? Here are three surprises he could pull with his team selection tonight.

Delph for Alli

With the Clasico axis of Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric facing the England midfield on Wednesday night, Southgate has the option of dropping Dele Alli, who scored against Sweden in the quarter-finals on Saturday, and bringing in Fabian Delph, who has been his first-choice substitution for much of the World Cup so far.

(Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)

Delph would bring the defensive stability that the likes of Eric Dier would have but is more dynamic with a better range of passing so he can use the ball after hustling it from the Croatians. It would mean sacrificing a more attacking player in Alli however, which would be a step back from what Southgate has done so far this tournament.

Rose for Young

Ashley Young has had a fantastic tournament and, after turning 33 this week, looks set to retain his place at left wing-back, if not just for his set-piece expertise which has been the main source of England’s goals during the World Cup. However, the lure of having a left-footed player down that flank could tempt Southgate.

Danny Rose shakes the attentions of Adnan Januzaj (Getty Images)

Rose has been going from strength to strength when coming off the bench and Southgate could be tempted to stretch the width of the pitch in order to make the weary Croatian legs, which have already played two 120-minute games, run that extra bit further and create more spaces in the midfield.

Vardy for Sterling

Raheem Sterling, for whatever you read has had a fine World Cup with off-the-ball runs pulling defenders out of position to allow Harry Kane more space to work in but, with no goals, Southgate may be keen to put more pressure on the error-prone Dejan Lovren.

Jamie Vardy could be just the man to do that, having scored seven goals in eight games against Liverpool in all competitions and so often been the bane of Lovren’s life. If Southgate does go for Vardy then Sterling would be the obvious one to drop out, given Jesse Lingard and Alli have more defensive responsibilities.