4 Sept 2019
Croatia Recent Form
It was a sensational World Cup campaign last summer for Croatia as they finished runner-up. Zlatko Dalic only had seven games in charge before they headed to that tournament and he certainly got the most out of his squad, with eventual Ballon d’Or winner and captain Luka Modric constantly pulling the strings.
However, they weren’t able to replicate those superb performances in the recent Nations League as they were relegated from Group A1, with a few players departing the international scene, as both England and Spain finishing above them.
Even if it came down to the final day, their decline was evident in a 6-0 thrashing by La Roja on the road last September.
Slovakia Recent Form
Slovakia may not be able to boast those kinds of credentials at major tournaments, but they were impressive when running out 5-1 victors at Azerbaijan last time out. In fact, they’ve won four of six matches since new head coach Pavel Hapal took over in late October, including victories in all three home matches over Ukraine (4-1), Hungary (2-0) and Jordan (5-1).
They too have a captain that can guide them to success in Marek Hamsik, who netted twice in their 5-1 drubbing of Azerbaijan last time out, though he’s not the only attacking threat they posses within their ranks. They aren’t completely reliant upon the former Napoli man, finding the net in six of their eight matches in his absence since 2015 as they won five of these games.
Slovakia Or A Draw
Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are indispensable for the visitors and along with Marcelo Brozovic, formed an effective midfield unit last summer. However, Rakitic is unavailable and potential replacement Mateo Kovacic had to withdraw from the squad through injury.
Further, both full-backs from last summer are not her now, with Ivan Strinic having suffered from heart problems and Sime Vrsaljko enduring injuries. Those are worrying signs for Dalic’s charges and given their form of three defeats from four winless road games since September, we’re happy to take them on in one way or another.
In fact, if we extend this run into March last year, then we can see they’ve gone W1-D3-L6, with the likes of Estonia, Iceland, Turkey and Hungary getting the better of them.
Both Teams To Score
The hosts currently sit ahead of Croatia only on goal difference in Group E, as they’ve both won two of their three encounters. Indeed, the Slovaks have been exceptional in front of goal with a current output of 12 goals from their four games in 2019, but their visitors are hardly slouches in that department either. Croatia have netted in each of their last seven outings, although they did also concede in each of those too and we therefore like the both teams to score market at odds-against.
Both Teams To Score (Yes) at 23/20
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