Tuchel buoyant on England chances ahead of 'different' decider in Spain

Thomas Tuchel acknowledged "everything will be different" against Spain, but remains confident that England will fall on the right side of a Nations League decider.

England's 2-1 win over Croatia on Thursday teed up a decisive meeting in Madrid, where Tuchel's side will have to beat world champions Spain if they are to top Group A3.

Tuchel's confidence may be understandable given England have won more games than any other European nation (21) since the German took charge.

They were good value for a narrow win against Croatia, too, accumulating 2.8 expected goals (xG) to Croatia's 1.2, but Tuchel knows Spain will prove an entirely different test.

"Everything will be different. Completely different scenario, completely different setup, but I'm very positive that we will get what we want," Tuchel told ITV when asked to look ahead to Sunday's clash.

England suffered a 3-2 defeat to Spain, who have five straight wins in Group A3, in their opener back in late September.

But Tuchel's side have since reeled off four consecutive wins of their own, smashing Croatia and Czechia by an aggregate 14-1 score, and qualified for the Nations League quarter-finals.

The only blemish on that record came at Wembley Stadium on matchday five, conceding a leveller after Jarell Quansah headed softly into the path of Petar Sučić, who hammered home from close range.

Tuchel still saw the performance, his 21st win in 27 games with England, as a good showing on a landmark outing for Harry Kane, who became his country's outright leading appearance maker (126 caps) and marked that occasion with a decisive second-half penalty.

"Good win. We wanted this win desperately, and I think we deserved it," Tuchel added. "I think it was hard work against a good opponent.

"It took us a while to grow into the game, but after 15 minutes I think we did OK, got the goal and got better and more confident and had some good actions and good chances, good half-chances.

"We got a little bit sloppy at the very end of the first half, started the second half very good, didn't score the second goal, conceded from a set-piece, and then showed a good reaction.

"We got the job done, and it was important because it was a special occasion for Harry, and he scored the winner, so perfect evening."

By contrast, Croatia have now lost four consecutive games for the first time in their history, conceding 15 goals in the process.

Slaven Bilić returned as head coach to change those fortunes, but he has lost four of his five games.

"We played well, and the feeling is similar to after the Spain game," Bilić said. "We're too big a team to be proud after a defeat, but I think we deserved much more.

"After losing 7-0 [to England in October], it wasn't easy to come to their ground and put in such a brave performance, showing the initiative that we did."