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Arun - September 4, 2019
Slovakia vs Croatia
Euro 2020 Qualification
Date: Friday, 06 September 2019
Kick off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: City Arena Trnava (Trnava).
With two wins, a loss and +5 goal difference to their name, Slovakia are currently occupying the second spot in the UEFA 2020 Qualifying Group E. So far they’ve defeated Hungary (2-0) and Azerbaijan (5-1), and lost narrowly in Cardiff. This week they will face their direct rivals for the Euros, Croatia and Hungary.
Slovakia are strong at home, with W-D-L record of 4-0-1 in 2018 WC Qualies, 1-0-1 in UNL and they haven’t lost a friendly game on their soil since 2011, and they’ve played against the likes of Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, etc.
Croatia have exactly the same record as Slovakia, but they had to work harder to collect points. World Cup runner-ups have failed to impress in home wins against Azerbaijan (2-1) and Wales (2-1) and suffered a 1-2 loss in Budapest despite an early lead.
Zlatko Dalic won’t be able to count on Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic in September’s fixtures, and it’s still unclear who will start next to Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic in 4-3-3 formation – options are Nikola Vlasic (CSKA Moscow) and Milan Badelj (Fiorentina). Despite their problems, Croatian players are optimistic ahead of this game.
They have played six friendlies since ’94, most recently in 2010 (1-1 draw in Bratislava), and both teams have won two games each.
Slovakian side have 1-2-0 record at home against Croatia.
We’ve seen BTTS – Yes in four games of the six played.
It’s a tough one to predict. Slovakia is doing great at home in general and they have scored ten goals in last two games, albeit against Jordan and Azerbaijan, teams that are few levels below their Friday’s opponents.
Croatia tend do to deliver when matters – 2-0 win against Ukraine in crucial World Cup Qualifiers game comes to mind, but as it stands, I don’t trust them enough to pick an away win. I will go with Both teams to score – Yes as my main pick, since that was a winning bet in their last seven fixtures across all competitions. Looking for a first stalemate in this group as well.
