Croatia were one of the few teams during the first round of group games who were able to deliver, including the big ones. So the odds on their win, EVS, against Czech Rep are pure gold. The Czech’s defended well against Spain in parts and were protected well by Cech until almost the last minute vs Spain, but they offered little going forward. And their opponents today (Croatia) are producing some good football right now, so they could, once again, come under siege. You’d feel that in this game the Czech’s wouldn’t sit so deep and would actually try to come out, although doing so could play into the hands of the Croats who looked a very astute side in their opening game.
The particular composition of this tournament allows the Czech’s to believe in qualification from this group right down to the last game, especially since Spain are likely to beat Turkey today. This will mean both Turkey and Czech Republic would be on zero points, playing-off against each other for a potential third qualification spot. But, in terms of today’s game, Croatia are good enough to seal their qualification with a game to spare and, at odds of EVS, they are well worth taking to do so.