The battle to reach the World Cup finals in Russia continues this week, with Croatia hosting Greece in the playoffs. The two teams finished as runners up in their respective qualifying groups, with this being the first of a two-legged clash between the duo.
World Cup Qualifiers Playoff – Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb – Thursday 9th November – 19:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 18/5 at Unibet |
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Croatia
GreeceMatch Preview: Croatia v Greece
Despite having been the favourites to make it through to next year’s Finals in Russia, Croatia had to settle for a playoff spot in I. Their opponents travel to Zagreb searching for a positive result ahead of the second leg, with the Euro 2004 winners set to pose a significant threat to Modric and Co on Thursday evening. With little separating the duo ahead of kick-off, those looking to place a bet on this match should check out our top tip. However, let’s first take a closer look at the two teams, starting with the home side.
Croatia Team News & Form
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalić led his team to six wins from ten during their qualifying campaign, including a vital away win in the Ukraine to finish. The home side undoubtedly have one of the best squads in the competition, with the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Rakitic helping to form a formidable looking starting eleven.
The Croatia squad has over 70 goals between them, with such attacking talent likely to pose the Greek defence no end of problems. As well as this, Croatia conceded just four goals in their ten qualifying matches, demonstrating that they are just as effective at the other end of the field. However, they were defeated in a recent match against Turkey away from home.
Greece Team News & Form
Greece come into this playoff fixture off the back of a comfortable 4-0 win over European minnows Gibraltar, with head coach Michael Skibbe having led his team to five wins during qualifying, as well as just one defeat. Skibbe has named a hugely experienced squad for their trip to Croatia, with the likes of Alexandros Tziolis, Kostas Mitroglou and Captain Vasilis Torosidis all having over 50 caps to their name. Greece did however score just 17 goals during qualifying, with the emphasis on Kostas Fortounis and Giannis Maniatis to provide the creativity in the final third.
Head to Head
The two teams have met a total of six times in competitive fixtures in the past, with Greece just about having the better record between the two, thanks to two wins and three draws from such encounters. Greece won the previous meeting between the two nations back in 2011, winning a tight affair by one goal to nil.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Given their wealth of talent and status as the home team, it comes as little surprise that many of the main bookmakers have made Croatia the favourites for victory on Thursday evening. The home team can be backed at best odds of 1/3 with Ladbrokes, while the same bookmakers offer Greece appealing odds of 11.
Top Betting Tip
However, our top betting tip for the match is to bet on Croatia keeping a clean sheet in Zagreb this week, with William Hill offering odds of 8/11 for this market.