Slovakia vs Croatia
4 September 1945hrs
Football – International – World Cup Qualifier
Pick Draw
Bookmaker Betfair
Odds: 12/5 odds taken 2000 GMT, Friday 3 September
One point separates three teams in Group H after four games so Croatia’s meeting with Slovakia on Saturday gives a chance for one of them to gain an advantage at the halfway mark.
Table of Contents
Slovakia Preview – Can Slovenia gain an important win to improve their qualification hopes?
Next month will complete a full year in charge for Stefan Tarkovic. In that time he has taken charge of the national team in three different competitions and the big games keep on coming. Slovakia’s Euro 2020 participation started very well with a 2-1 over Poland. It looked extremely likely that they would qualify for the next stage but defeats to Sweden and Spain (the latter a 5-0 thrashing) meant they went home after the first stage.
That coming on the back of a bottom place finish in the most recent Nations League group mean Tarkovic is under pressure, particularly as it was his predecessor who secured their place at the recent Euros.
Slovakia are very much in the equation after four games. They are unbeaten in the section with a win and three draws, the most recent of those coming in a 1-1 stalemate away to Slovenia on Wednesday. Robert Bozenik’s first goal for his country gave them the lead but they had to make do with a point.
Their only win in the section did come at home to Russia earlier this year which should give them confidence approaching this game before hosting Cyprus on Tuesday in a match they will definitely be targeting the three points.
Croatia Preview – Will Croatia have enough with their captain to score a valuable away win?
Finalists in 2018, Croatia are attempting to reach the World Cup for a third successive finals and their firth appearance from a possible six. It’s a tremendous record for a country with a relatively small populations and whilst a lot of their key players are at the advanced stages of their career there remains plenty of quality. The Croats were somewhat unfortunate in their exit to Spain in the round of 16 at Euro 2020, eventually losing 5-3 to Spain after extra-time.
It was a mixed bag of a championships for them with just one win in four games, that coming at Hampden against Scotland. Although Zlatko Dalic will have taken some confidence with his team’s comeback in the match against Spain.
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Croatia’s start to this World Cup qualification campaign has been steady but it looks very much like they are going to be pushed all the way by Russia and their next opponents particularly. Wednesday’s goalless draw in Moscow leaves the joint top but with Slovakia just a point behind.
The section started with defeat away to Slovenia before expected wins against Cyprus and Malta at home, both of which were achieved without conceding a goal. With only one team automatically qualifying for the World Cup next year this already looks like being another game they need three points from.
Slovakia vs Croatia Betting Advice
You sense this group is going to be fine margins and it makes matches against the challenging teams so crucial. Slovakia are looking to go five games unbeaten whilst Croatia will hope to be more dynamic in attack than they were against Russia, albeit that was a good result.
Croatia have struggled on the road in recent years. Their last competitive win was actually against Slovakia back in 2019.
Key Facts – Slovakia vs Croatia Betting Tip
- Slovakia are unbeaten in the section with three draws and one win so far
- Luka Modric will again be absent for the visitors as he makes his way back from injury
- Croatia’s last competitive win away from home was against Slovakia back in 2019
There’s little to choose between these teams after four games and I’m banking on that being the case after this one with a share of the points likely.
Best Betting Odds for Slovakia vs Croatia
