Croatia vs Slovakia prediction for Monday’s Worl Cup Qualifying action at Stadion Gradski vrt in Osijek. Group H leaders Croatia host fourth-placed Slovakia in a very crucial game for the hosts. You can follow our free preview prediction and betting tips on this page.
Croatia all out for a win
Croatia’s convincing 3-0 World Cup Qualifying win over Cyprus on Friday moved them a step closer to Qatar 2022. Moreover, a win here and they will at least be guaranteed a playoff berth. In fact, that will be their sixth consecutive appearance in a major tournament. Also, a seven-match undefeated h2h record against their visitors will give the hosts confidence.
The 2018 World Cup runners-up had clean sheets in their last three WCQ home matches. Moreover, with just one goal conceded in seven games in the WCQ, Croatia have the second-best record. In addition, coach Zlatko Dalic expects his team to score first as they did in six of the last seven matches on home soil.
Croatia Key points
?♂️ Ready, set, go!#Family #Vatreni❤️? pic.twitter.com/OWUWG3Jm9g
— HNS (@HNS_CFF)
Slovakia playing for pride more than anything
Interestingly, Slovakia met Croatia in their first home international after gaining independence, a game they won 4-1 in April 1994. Less joyously, Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Russia leaves their World Cup qualification hopes to hang by a thread. Hence if they’re to reach a second consecutive major tournament for the first time, they must get a result here to keep themselves in Group H contention.
Slovakia will definitely be blaming themselves for dropping points against Cyprus and Malta. That left them seven points behind the leaders Croatia. With an uninspiring away record of just one win in nine games, a repeat of their win over the Croats seems unlikely.
Slovakia Key Points
- Eight of Slovakia’s last ten away matches ended in under 2.5 goals
- Slovakia had just two clean sheets in ten games
- In their last three h2h matches with Croatia, Slovakia lost all three
Croatia vs Slovakia Prediction
With the importance of this game for Croatia, we think the hosts will be very alert and focused to get this win. Also with Russia hanging right around their neck, coach Dalic’s team has no margin for error.
With their current record in recent games, however, the bookies are favoring the Blazers for a clear win with odds of 1.43 at Vbet. Moreover, a game with over 2.5 goals is what the bookies expect. But we are a bit skeptical about that as most WCQ qualifying matches are seeing under 3.5 goals.
In conclusion, we found the bet in the combos section of double chance and total goals is a good deal at Vbet. As for our second choice, we are going both teams not to score.
Croatia vs Slovakia Betting Tips
Single: Lost19:45/11 octCroatia vs SlovakiaBet: Croatia win or Slovakia win and Under 3.5 Goalsto:50% players believe that this bet will win!Single: Lost19:45/11 octCroatia vs SlovakiaBet: Both Teams To Score Noto:50% players believe that this bet will win!