Croatia were able to cut through this French side quite easily which will alarm Didier Deschamps, especially considering that Croatia are not blessed with an elite level of attacking talent in their squad. However, despite this lack of household names in forward areas, Croatia showed how effective they can be when functioning as a team with plenty of competent footballers in the defensive and midfield thirds.

Croatia managed four shots on target in the first leg meeting between the sides and are averaging 5.7 shots on target per game across the Nations League as a whole – only Germany and Spain are averaging more shots on target per game than Zlatko Dalic’s side. France aren’t too far behind in this particular metric, currently averaging 5.6 shots on target per game in the Nations League this term.

The gamestate has changed completely for France, Deschamps is one of the more pragmatic managers on the international circuit but he will have to abandon that philosophy if his side want to find a route back into the tie. This should open the game up from the very beginning which should see Croatia be able to manufacture chances, particularly in moments of transition and when France overcommit bodies forward.

Italy were bright in attacking areas against Germany in the first leg and should have really added to their early goal with Luciano Spalletti’s side, managing six shots on target from 13 attempts in total. Italy drew five saves from Oliver Baumann in the first leg and can draw a similar number again here, seeing as they are chasing the tie and need at least a goal to be within a chance of reaching the semi-finals of the Nations League.

Principally, Spalletti is an attacking coach, he likes his side to be on the front foot but has encountered issues in translating this style to the national side. That being said, Italy’s performance in the Nations League up until this point offers optimism for the near future of Italian football. Italy have scored 14 goals across their seven games in the Nations League this campaign, whilst averaging 5.4 shots on target per game, an average they exceeded in the first leg encounter against Germany.

Italy have drawn 3+ saves from the opposition keeper in six of their seven Nations League matches so far.

The current gamestate will mean that Italy will have to come out and attack at some point in the game. Germany are likely to have the majority of the ball as well as control proceedings in the early stages of the game but expect Italy to have spells as the game progresses, where they put the Germans under pressure and can test the keeper on at least three occasions, as they did in the first leg.

Denmark did really well to establish a lead over Portugal in the first leg of this fixture thanks to a second half goal from Rasmus Hojlund. Denmark will probably be a bit disappointed that they didn’t expand on that lead seeing as they had 23 shots in the game, with eight of those finding the target.

Those chances generated an xG of 2.78 which was reflective of the quality of chances that fell their way. Portugal were really disappointing, Roberto Martinez isn’t getting enough out of this side at the moment as evidenced by the fact they only had eight shots in the first leg, generating an xG of 0.51 – a really low total when considering the talent that Portugal have.

Denmark have scored a goal in five of their seven Nations League games this season, they should be able to continue this decent record in the competition with Portugal needing a goal to get back into the tie.