Croatia v Portugal Predictions & Betting Odds – Euro 2016

Croatians too strong for under-performing Portugal?

Croatia v Portugal Euro 2016

Croatia v Portugal Betting Preview – Euro 2016, 25th June
Croatia will have been elated at having pipped Spain to top spot in their group. However, they would have been expecting a bit of an easier game though as a reward. They go up against one of the qualifying third-placed teams but that is Portugal. The Portuguese struggled to three draws from three in a group that they were fully expected to win. Croatia looked pretty slick and powerful through their group stage and will be expected to more than hold their own still in his round of sixteen match up.

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Croatia v Portugal Euro 2016 Infographic

Croatia v Portugal Betting Tips

This should be a good game and it may be tight. Croatia’s hopes will be massively boosted if they get Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic back to full fitness for this one having missed their final group stage match. That having been said, without them, Croatia still took a 2-1 win over Spain, that being a come-from-behind victory as well. Other than a second half collapse in their group stage game against the Czech Republic, Croatia have looked very good. They are now on a ten match unbeaten streak and they have the quality and players to really put together a good challenge for the title here. Mandzukic is a price of 9/4 to get on the score sheet in the game while the highly impressive Ivan Perisic is a 3/1 quote.

That’s the thing about Croatia, they have quality attacking options in the game, far more to call upon than Portugal do. However they have lost their last three games against Portugal, failing to score a single goal against them in those games. But they are looking the better of the two options in this one and both teams to score in the match will return you a price of 6/5. Croatia are very good at getting forward and don’t panic in their own half at all (against taking that second half performance against the Czech’s out of the picture). All in all they look strong and their main job will be to keep Ronaldo quiet. You can go under 2.5 goals on the game at a price of 4/9 with online betting site Bet365.

Portugal drew all three of their group stage games. They hammered away offensively against Iceland and Austria and couldn’t get their rewards, and then were ran ragged at the back in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Hungary. That left them in third place in their group, a hugely dispatching return. Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t been at his sharpest, but a brace against Hungary will have done wonders for his self esteem. Not too surprisingly he is a 10/3 favourite option in the First Goalscorer market for this game. With just two wins in their last six games, Portugal need Ronaldo at his very competitive best. The big worry was how poor their defence was against Hungary and overall in having failed to beat three relatively weak opponents in the group stage.

Croatia v Portugal Betting Odds

Croatia 13/8, Draw 21/10, Portugal 2/1

Croatia v Portugal Predictions

While you have Cristiano Ronaldo in your side you are going to have a chance. Portugal desperately need him to have an impact, but the overall quality in this match up lies with Croatia. They have tremendous power down the flanks, quality through the middle of the park and are likely to have too much for Portugal, who have looked a bit disjointed, to deal with. It is likely to be tight, but shoot for Croatia to win this.