England vs Croatia Team News: John Barnes gives us his thoughts on Wednesday’s match

The World Cup is well underway and tomorrow England will get their campaign underway against Croatia in Dallas, Texas. 

We're delighted to have England legend John Barnes on board as our official World Cup Ambassador throughout the tournament, where he will provide us with his expert knowledge and insight into all the big talking points throughout the five-week event from across the pond. 

In our recent interview, Barnes talks us through England's potential starting XI, all the big selection issues and whether Wednesday's game is 'must win'. Here is John Barnes' England vs Croatia team news...

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New customers only. Register, deposit with Debit Card, and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get £30 in Sports Free Bets & £20 in Bet Builder Free Bets within 24 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. T&Cs Apply.

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We spoke to John again this week, amid constant press rumours of the starting England XI for Wednesday and asked him what his starting eleven would be.

“When people ask me about my starting XI, I’d have had Phil Foden and Cole Palmer in it, but they’re obviously not there, so in terms of what I think Thomas [Tuchel] will do, he’ll want to play a very pragmatic game and he will pick the best-suited XI for that as it’s important to make a good start.

You don’t want to lose the first game and even though Croatia are their hardest opponent in the group and you could lose to or draw with them and still go through, Thomas will still want to have a winning start. Whoever he selects, I’ll trust him.”

John Barnes

With it heavily rumoured that John Stones will start over Marc Guehi on Wednesday, we asked Barnesy if it was the right decision...

“Thomas knows what he wants and who he wants to play and as I’ve said, I’d want other players but what I won’t do is say that he’s picked the wrong team. He knows the way he wants to set-up and he knows the way he wants to play.

I’d have personally gone with [Marc] Guehi over [John] Stones because we don’t know how fit John is. After Wednesday’s game we will see if he’s made the right decisions or not.”

John Barnes

In a similar vein, it looks like Morgan Rodgers is likely to miss out for the bigger star-name of Jude Bellingham. Did John think there was a way the Aston Villa man could have been incorporated into the starting XI somehow?

“No, I wouldn’t try and fit him in by playing him out on the wing against Croatia. Against lesser opposition he could potentially play out there, but he’s not as good as Anthony Gordon in that position.

I know that Thomas wants to have a solid midfield that can work hard to win the ball back. Morgan can create and score goals, but he’s more of an eight or a ten than an eleven.”

John Barnes

England vs Croatia Odds

So is he going with Anthony Gordon on the left-wing over Marcus Rashford?

“I’d go with Gordon, absolutely. We could realistically play either of them, but I think Gordon has made that position his own. Rashford had a decent season at Barcelona and in many respects, he suits international football more than club football. You have certain players like that, like Darius Vassell. Vassell always did well for England because in international football, you probably get a little bit more space, whereas club football is tighter.

For those reasons, I don’t think it would be a bad decision if Tuchel decides to go with Rashford over Gordon, but I’d still put Anthony ahead of him.”

John Barnes

Next, we asked the former England legend if Wednesday's game was 'must-win' for Tuchel?

“It’s essential, but it’s also essential for Croatia. The fact it’s the most difficult game of the group, that probably works in England’s favour because not necessarily in this World Cup but in most, you can have some funny first matches because the teams you should beat are confident as they haven’t been beaten already and that makes it trickier.

I’m fairly confident they will go through, but I’m glad it’s Croatia first game rather than last.”

John Barnes

And finally, we asked the 62-year-old to give us his score prediction for the 9pm kick-off...

“I’m going to go with 1-1. I think both teams will be okay with that as it’ll be a game that neither of them want to lose and Thomas Tuchel is a very pragmatic manager anyway, so I don’t think it’s going to be a very open game.”

John Barnes