Croatia v Nigeria Predictions & Betting Odds – World Cup 2018

Croatia to bank opening win at Russia 2018

Croatia v Nigeria- World Cup 2018

Croatia v Nigeria Betting Preview – World Cup 2018 16th June – 8.00 p.m
(Full time: 2:0 – goals: Etebo 32′ (OG), Modric 71′ (P))

Croatia have been labelled as being a dark horse Russia 2018 and this action is coming from the competitive Group D which also houses Argentina and Iceland. Croatia are going to need to make a strong start to play up to their billing. Nigeria just seen their form fall away ahead of the tournament and so we will be interesting to see if they can shake that off and cause some kind an upset here. Here are our Croatia v Nigeria predictions.

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Croatia News and Form

In trying to pick out some dark horses for the 2018 World Cup, Croatia look as if they should be top of the list. They don’t actually look a bad option to go and beat Argentina to win Group D outright. Ahead of their big game against Argentina, which will be their second fixture, Croatia will want to have three points on the board going into that. Croatia are doing okay with their form having won five of their last nine, losing just two of those. They faced African opponents on the weekend in their final warm-up fixture as they took a 2-1 win over Senegal. Croatia have only won two of their last five fixtures though and have just been struggling in front of goal. For our Croatia v Nigeria predictions running as one of our key options is under 2.5 goals is at 8/13 odds with bet365* (Betting Odds were taken on June 12th, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.). That does have pretty good appeal as Croatia have failed to hit the back of the net in three of their last five games played.

The real strengths of Croatia lie in the middle of the pitch with a fantastic high-quality midfield, and they will look to their main man Mario Mandzukic for goals and he is the 8/5 odds favourite in the bet365 anytime goalscorer market* (Betting Odds were taken on June 12th, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.). Croatia did not actually manage to win their World Cup 2018 qualification group, finishing second behind Iceland who they will meet again in Group D. They eased their way past Greece in the World Cup qualifying play-off round and they should be competitive at the World Cup, with a lot of their players plying their trade at top European clubs. Croatia have only conceded more than one goal on two occasions in their last nine games so it’s hard to see Nigeria tearing them apart.

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Nigeria News and Form

So in our predictions for Nigeria v Croatia we aren’t expecting the scoreboard be ticking over on a regular basis. Croatia do look better of the two nations and they are favourites to win this, but with their lack of goal output it may well be worth considering Croatia to win by a one-goal margin at 12/5 odds with bet365* (Betting Odds were taken  on June 12th, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.). The Super Eagles have seen their form fall away ahead of the World Cup, which is pretty poor timing. They can be forgiven for their 2-1 defeat against England at the beginning of June, but then their follow-up lost against the Czech Republic is not a result that bodes well for them in having to take on Croatia who are a much higher quality opponent.

Nigeria have come up with only two goals in their last four fixtures, which for Croatia v Nigeria predictions again indicates that goals may be at a premium. You can consider both teams not to score option at 4/6 odds with bet365* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 12th, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.) and that looks like a pretty reasonable option. At the end of the day, Nigeria may not be able to hold themselves together at the back because they have only managed to earn one clean sheet in their last eight games, with defeats coming in four of those. So based on their current form which has seen them lose three of their last four games, it looks as if the Super Eagles are going to have a hard time working their way into this fixture. Getting enough quality ball off of Croatia is going to be a tough task in and of itself.

Croatia v Nigeria Head to Head

This Group D meeting at the 2018 World Cup will be the first ever competitive match-up between Croatia and Nigeria.

Croatia v Nigeria Betting Odds*

Croatia 8/11
Draw 27/10
Nigeria 19/4
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 12th, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.)

Croatia v Nigeria Predictions

We like the setup for Croatia have and they have a good enough midfield to control this game and drive forward to collect three points. The Nigerians are blowing just a little cold have the moment and although they will have patches of competitiveness, our Croatia v Nigeria predictions suggest that Croatia can win by a one-goal margin.