Key events
Before kick-off, a presentation for Andy Robertson on the occasion of his 100th cap, with Steve Clarke, Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan on hand to give him a framed shirt.
Sebastien Pocognoli has a chat ahead of Scotland’s game against Slovenia:
It’s a good team. They play as a collective block. It will be a good opposition today and we need to be ready and at our best. We’re trying to rotate. We expect if we are good on the ball to play against a low block. We need some creative players to play in between the lines and Ryan [Christie] had a good camp so far.
Don’t mind me, I’m just engrossed in the hunt for evidence of guano deposits in the area around Alnmouth, which is how BBC2 is treating anyone who’s turned on early for the Scotland game.
Russia v Nigeria submits an early claim to the game-of-the-day award: Nigeria 1-0 up after 10 minutes, Russia 3-1 up after 54, Akor Adams with an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time, 3-3. Obviously I haven’t actually watched a single minute of the game and it might have been a terrifically dull six-goal non-thriller, but the scoreline reads very nicely.
Harry Kane is England’s starting line-up against Czechia, bringing him level with Peter Shilton on 125 caps for his country. Scott Murray is all over this one here:
Croatia v Spain teams
It’s Rodri v Modri(c) in midfield as Spain make five changes to the team that beat Czechia and Croatia make four to the team that flunked against England.
Croatia: Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Vuskovic, Gvardiol; Modric, Jakic; Vlasic, Kovacic, Perisic; Matanovic. Subs: Pandur, Kotarski, Pongracic, Beljo, Kramaric, Budimir, Mario Pasalic, Baturina, Sucic, Marco Pasalic, Sucic, Misic.
Spain: Unai Simon; Marc Pubill, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Alex Baena; Mikel Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Martinez, Huijsen, Le Normand, Fresneda, Merino, Munoz, Roberto Fernandez, Fermin Lopez, Pino, Fran Garcia, Zubimendi.
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)
Scotland v Slovenia teams
Jack Hendry and Ryan Christie come in, while Kieron Bowie drops to the bench and Scott McKenna is suspended:
Scotland: Gunn, Welsh, Hendry, Binks, Doak, McGinn, Ferguson, Gilmour, Robertson, Christie, McBurnie. Subs: Kelly, Bain, Hickey, Doig, Ure, Miller, McPake, Curtis, Graham, Bowie, Patterson, Montgomery.
Slovenia: Oblak, Brekalo, Bijol, Zec, Janza, Karnicnik, Cerin, Zabukovnik, Sturm, Matko, Vipotnik. Subs: Vidovsek, Vekic, Balkovec, Kuzmic, Urbancic, Lovric, Begic, Elsnik, Celar, Svetlin, Horvat, Drkusic.
Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain).
Spain can seal quarter-final qualification if they beat Croatia today (and if England don’t lose to the Czechs), a task that as England demonstrated over the weekend is probably within their capabilities. Here’s Luka Modric’s reaction to that defeat and hopes for tonight’s game:
Losing isn’t the problem, but the way we lost is. I hope the fans will cheer us on as always and that, after the match, they can judge how we played. That’s what we need, so we’re hoping for a positive reaction because what happened hurts us more than anyone.
Spain is the best team in the world. They’re the champions. I don’t know how Spain is going to interpret our defeat … [but] what happened isn’t typical for our team, we all know that. Against the best team in the world, we have to fix everything, be aggressive, and not give them too much space to find solutions.
Hello world!
The Nations League is reaching the stage when decisions are made – indeed one could be made tonight, with Spain on the verge of joining their Iberian cousins Portugal in the quarter-finals, just one win for them and a lack of defeat for England away. So check out the league tables here and peruse tonight’s fixtures below – all of them 7.45pm starts unless otherwise advertised – and let’s crack on.
League A, Group 3
Croatia v Spain
England v Czechia
League B, Group 1
Scotland v Slovenia
Switzerland v North Macedonia
League C, Group 1
Albania v San Marino
Belarus v Finland
League C, Group 3
Moldova v Slovakia
Kazakhstan v Faroe Islands was played earlier today and finished 2-2
League C, Group 4
Estonia v Iceland
Luxembourg v Bularia
Bonus international friendlies
Russia v Nigeria (5pm)
Algeria v Niger (6pm)
Jordan v Venezuela (6pm)
Still want more?
Today’s Football Daily is, in an unexpected twist, about military service in South Korea.
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