We've been here before. Nearly two years ago to the day, Steve McLaren's England were soundly beaten 2-0 by an Eduardo-inspired Croatia, a result which confirmed that Slaven Bilic's men were a force to be reckoned with in world football. While the Croats may not have the Arsenal striker on Wednesday night, the bookmakers are taking no risks with the home side, going a best price 7/5 (VC Bet).

Indeed, they made short work of Kazakhstan on Saturday evening, winning 3-0, and it's 28/1 (Ladbrokes) that they win by the same scoreline against Fabio Capello's team. However, while it's doom and gloom for England after a supposedly lacklustre 2-0 win in Andorra, the reality is that they are still a half-decent international side and 11/5 (Blue Square) could actually be a spot of value. Certainly, if (and it's a reasonably big 'if') the Three Lions play to their potential, this could be their moment to silence the critics.

At least the nation are starting to lower their expectations after the national team missed out on Euro 2008. Indeed, a draw will be seen as a good result for England (11/5 VC Bet), with Croatia expected to be their main group rivals. It's certainly hard to see the visitors conceding three goals, as they did against the same opponents at Wembley last November, although it's hard to see them scoring too many. On this basis, the 1-1 scoreline could be the one to back (11/2 Boylesports), with neither team prepared to commit many players forward in the early stages.

The question is whether Capello will start with Joe Cole in Zagreb, after the Chelsea winger scored both goals of the game in Andorra after coming on as a substitute. He's an attractive 14/1 (bet365) to score first or last again, with the England players attractively priced on account of the quality of their opponents. Wayne Rooney (15/2 Paddy Power) is due an international goal, while Frank Lampard (11/1 bet365) is likely to be on penalty duties. For the Croats, Luka Modric is 14/1 (Boylesports), and it's worh bearing in mind that the Spurs midfielder scored on Saturday.