England get their EURO 2020 campaign underway this afternoon and face an ageing Croatia side that halted their march through the World Cup in Russia three years ago.
Gareth Southgate has sprung a surprise with his starting XI, selecting Kieran Trippier (€5.0m) at left-back and overlooking more orthodox options in that position like Ben Chilwell (€6.0m) and Luke Shaw (€6.0m).
Raheem Sterling (€9.5m) and Phil Foden (€8.0m) are the lucky two who get the nod either side of Harry Kane (€11.5m), with Mason Mount (€7.0m) supporting that attacking trident from midfield.
That means that Marcus Rashford (€9.5m) and Jack Grealish (€7.5m) have to be content with places on the bench.
In the absence of the injured Harry Maguire (€5.5m), it’s Tyrone Mings (€4.5m) and John Stones (€5.5m) who start in central defence.
There are some familiar names in the Croatia line-up, with six of the side that started the 2018 World Cup final involved today.
Luka Modric (€8.5m), Ivan Perisic (€8.5m) and Mateo Kovacic (€6.0m) are among the recognisable faces in action.
From a EURO 2020 Fantasy perspective, there are five of the Three Lions’ line-up who can boast a double-digit ownership.
Kane and Mount are both selected by more than 30% of us, with Stones, Foden and Kyle Walker (€5.5m) all sitting in excess of 10% of Fantasy squads.
By contrast, not a single Croatia player is owned by more than 4% of Fantasy managers.
The penalty-taking Modric is the most-popular asset from the 2018 World Cup finalists.
EURO 2020 Fantasy managers can change their captains up until kick-off at Wembley, although Romelu Lukaku‘s (€11.0m) 10-point haul on Saturday evening will see many of us ‘sticking’ with the Belgian for the armband in Matchday 1.
Croatia XI: Livakovic; Vrsaljko, Caleta-Car, Vida, Gvardiol, Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Kramaric, Rebic, Perisic.
England XI: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Mings, Trippier, Rice, Phillips, Mount, Foden, Sterling, Kane
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GROUP A: Mexico | South Africa | Korea Republic | Czechia
GROUP B: Canada | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Qatar | Switzerland
GROUP C: Brazil | Morocco | Haiti | Scotland
GROUP D: USA | Paraguay | Australia | Turkiye
GROUP E: Germany | Curacao | Cote d’Ivoire | Ecuador
GROUP F: Netherlands | Japan | Sweden | Tunisia
GROUP G: Belgium | Egypt | Iran | New Zealand
GROUP H: Spain | Cabo Verde | Saudi Arabia | Uruguay
GROUP I: France | Senegal | Iraq | Norway
GROUP J: Argentina | Algeria | Austria | Jordan
GROUP K: Portugal | DR Congo | Uzbekistan | Colombia
GROUP L: England | Croatia | Ghana | Panama
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