World Cup 2018, England vs Croatia: Three Key Battles that will decide the second semi-final clash

#2 Luka Modric vs Jordan Henderson

Luka Modric has continued his Real Madrid form for Croatia

Arguably the tournament’s best central midfielder, Luka Modric has carried on his Real Madrid form for Croatia.

The Vatreni captain has combined with Ivan Rakitic to form the most devastating central midfield in the World Cup.

While Croatia rely unnecessarily on inefficient crossing, anytime Modric has the ball will be problematic for the English.

Modric’s through balls will be particularly troubling for the Three Lions considering Harry Maguire, John Stones and Kyle Walker have averaged a combined 2.0 interceptions per game (same or less than 44 individual players).

This combined with Stones’ and Walker’s error-prone play, may result in easy chances for Mario Mandzukic and Ante Rebic.

However, England can prevent Modric from having the space to dictate the game. This was done successfully by Russia in the quarter-finals as the hosts used several defensive midfielders to reduce the effectiveness of Modric and Rakitic.

This is where Jordan Henderson will be crucial for the Three Lions. He is the only defensive midfielder in the starting XI and has been excellent for the team so far, averaging 1.8 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game. The Liverpool player will need to shadow Modric throughout the game.

The script might also be flipped- Henderson has made several excellent attacking contributions so far.

This was particularly true against Sweden when the Liverpool midfielder’s long balls created a couple of golden chances for Raheem Sterling. Modric will need to prevent this from occurring. This battle in the middle of the park is likely to be decisive.