Croatia: The danger men who can hurt England... and the weakest link

By Ian Ladyman Last updated at 10:49 PM on 08th September 2009

LETHAL DOWN THE LEFT

Danger man: Danijel Pranjic

With England full back Glen Johnson looking so uncomfortable against Slovenia, Croatia are sure to target him by using left back Danijel Pranjic to surge down that side. That is what he did against Belarus on Saturday and he was dangerous. It is possible the reshuffle that will take place as a result of Vedran Corluka's suspension will see - among other things - Pranjic moving forward to left midfield, the position he occupies for his club side Bayern Munich.

WHERE ELSE ARE THEY STRONG?

Goalkeeper Vedran Runje is agile and he 'won' Croatia their game against Belarus on Saturday with two saves from one-on-one positions and a superb injury-time stop from a close-range header. If he is similarly inspired again, he will be hard to beat. Midfielder Niko Kranjcar is expected to switch from left to right midfield tonight but that shouldn't lessen the Tottenham player's effectiveness. Skilful and physically capable, his battle with Ashley Cole could be pivotal to the outcome.

AND A WEAK LINK..

In the absence of Corluka, Bilic does not have another recognised right back to call upon and is expected instead to ask Darioj Srna to drop back from right midfield. Corluka himself is not particularly adept at defending, so heaven knows how open they will be down that side. Are you reading, Fabio?

Srna: emergency defender

TACTICS AND FORMATION

Croatia played 4-1-3-2 during their unconvincing 1-0 win over Belarus in Zagreb and may do so again tonight. However, there is a chance that Bilic will pick a slightly more defensive team and go 4-4-2 in a bid to make the centre of midfield more resilient.

Coach Slaven Bilic said at the weekend that his team prefer to play away from home and it is easy to see why because they can be very effective on the break.

If it is 4-1-3-2, Bilic will play Dynamo Kiev's Ognjen Vukojevic as the holding midfielder, plus a central playmaker sitting behind the strikers. This is usually Luka Modric, but in the wake of the Tottenham midfielder's recent injury, the role could be filled by the inferior but nevertheless effective Ivan Rakitic. He scored Croatia's goal from long range on Saturday.