Croatia v Greece Betting Preview – World Cup 2018 Qualifiers 9th November
So all of the nerves and tension that are associated with the World Cup qualifying play offs will be on show on Thursday. Croatia, who left it until their final group game to book the second place in their group behind Iceland, get home advantage for the first leg of this play off tie. It will be a tough one for the Greeks as well because the Croats rarely give much away on home soil and Greece aren’t exactly renowned for their attacking power. Will the visitors be able to hang on with something to fight for in the second leg?
Croatia v Greece Betting Tips
After finishing as runners up in Group I of World Cup qualification, Croatia just about got there with a win away in the Ukraine in their final group stage match. So they handled the pressure well and the Croatians banked a 2-0 win in an awkward game. The Croats remained unbeaten on home soil in their World Cup 2018 qualification campaign, putting up a W3 D2 record and really aside from a 6-0 win at Kosovo, they struggled for goals in the group, netting only fifteen in their ten games and overall eight of those were in their two games against Kosovo. All five of their qualifiers at home saw less than three goals and under 2.5 goals at bet365 fetches a good price of 8/13. Croatia have conceded just once in their last four home games. Mario Mandzukic is the 11/10 anytime goalscorer favourite.
The last time that Croatia and Greece were paired up was in the Euro 2012 qualifiers and Greece took four points from those two meetings thanks to a home win. Each of the previous three home games that Croatia have played against Greece have ended in a draw though. Greece actually edges the head to head 2-1 over Croatia with three draws played out. But even though Croatia are winless in four now against the Greeks, of the two at the moment they do look the stronger side. Both teams not to score at 8/15 with bet365 will favour the defensive output of the Croats in this one and a Croatia to win to nil wager at bet365 may return some decent appeal at a price of 4/5. Seven of Greece’s last ten games have produced fewer than three goals.
Greece finished runners up to Belgium, a long way back on points, but they only shipped the six qualification goals which was the same amount as which Belgium conceded. They were nowhere near of course, matching Belgium’s output going forward. Greece are unbeaten in their last seven road games, staying unbeaten away from home in qualification which involved some tricky games, notably at Belgium. Greece have been trailing at half time just once in their last 19 games and they are an organised side and so a half time draw at bet365 looks a decent way to go at 6/5. Greece will be trying to win against a Croatia side who haven’t lost at home in over four years, so this is a tough ask of them. But the Greeks did concede in three of their five away games in the group, notably at Cyprus and Gibraltar and that just hints that even though they are pretty organised, Croatia may have the quality to create enough to win this.
Croatia v Greece Betting Odds
Croatia 1/3, Draw 10/3, Greece 11/1
Croatia v Greece Predictions
Croatia to win: With plenty of clean sheets on home soil recently, Croatia can be confidently backed to go out and win to nil in this one. The Greeks have struggled for wins in their recent form and can take a narrow lead in this play off.
