Having already booked their spot in the quarter-finals, Cristiano Ronaldo and co. confirmed their first-place position in Group A1’s rankings with an ecstatic 5-1 win over Poland.
On the other hand, Croatia were dealt a surprise 1-0 loss at the hands of Scotland after going down to 10 men. They will need a point against Portugal to guarantee a place in the quarterfinals.
With a quarterfinal spot on the line, hosts Croatia will welcome the return of Ante Budimir and first-choice goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who were suspended for the previous Nations League match.
However, Croatia’s No 10 Petar Sucic will miss the tie as he picked up a red card during the team’s 0-1 defeat to Scotland. Mario Pasalic or Nikola Vlasic could fill in for him against Portugal.
In defence, Marin Pongracic may step in for Kristijan Jakic, who is a doubtful starter after picking up an injury in Croatia’s previous match.
Croatia predicted XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Livakovic (GK) — Pongracic, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol — Modric, Kovacic — L. Sucic, Pasalic, Perisic — Kramaric.
Since Portugal has already secured the top spot in their group, the team is in for a major reshuffle. Top players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto and Bruno Fernandes have already been released for club duty.
Manager Roberto Martinez is likely to bring in U-21 talents Fabio Silva and full-back Geovany Quenda. Diogo Costa may be replaced in goal by Rui Silva or Jose Sa.
Portugal predicted XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): R. Silva (GK) — Cancelo, Djalo, Araujo, Tavares — Vitinha, Neves — Conceicao, Felix, Trincao — F. Silva.
