Croatia vs. Slovenia 9/7/21 European World Cup Qualifications Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Croatia is welcoming Slovenia to Stadion Poljud in round 6 of Group H of the World Cup Qualifications. Croatia hasn’t been scoring a lot of goals in these qualifications, but they also haven’t been conceding a lot of goals. Slovenia is a solid team, they are in decent form, and they are now in 3^rd place in this group.

Croatia hasn’t lost any of their last 2 games, and they have scored only 5 goals so far in these qualifications. The good news for Croatia is their defense has looked pretty good, and they have conceded only 1 goal so far in these qualifications. With 10 points, Croatia is in 2^nd place, but they have the same number of points as Russia on the top. In their last games against Slovakia on the road, Croatia has had 55% of ball possession, 3 shots on goal, 3 corner kicks, 0 big chances created, and 86% of the correct passes. This was a great game to watch, with a lot of pace and back and forth soccer, but not a lot of goals. In the 86^th minute, Croatia has scored a goal, and they have won this match 0-1. Modric is still not ready to play, and he will miss this game as well. Croatia is the best team in this group, but they need to get their offense going as soon as possible because they will need it.

Slovenia is a team that has been improving a lot, and they are now undefeated in their last 4 games while winning 2 of those 4 games. With 7 points, 4 scored goals, and 4 conceded goals, Slovenia is in 3^rd place in this group, and I like their chances to get to the World Cup. Slovenia also hasn’t scored a lot of goals as we can see, but their defense might be good enough to give them a shot. In their last game against Malta, Slovenia has had 52% of ball possession, 3 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 83% of the correct passes. This was a solid game from Slovenia, they got lucky because Malta got their 3 goals disallowed, and Slovenia was awarded a penalty kick in the 44^th minute, which they turned into a goal. In the 88^th minute, Slovenia was awarded another penalty, but they missed. The final score of this match was 1-0 in favor of Slovenia. Lovric is the leading goalscorer for Slovenia with 2 goals, while Ilicic and Stojanovic added 1 goal each. If Slovenia had all of their players available, they would be a really good team, but like this, they are an average team that isn’t good in the attacking end.

The trends are on Croatia’s side in this match, and they will be playing at home in a full stadium. This is a neighborly derby, and they are always good. Croatia is the favorite here, and I think it will be a fantastic match to watch. I’m taking Croatia at home.