Slovakia vs. Croatia 9/4/21 European World Cup Qualifications Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction
Slovakia vs. Croatia
September 4, 2021 2:45 pm EDT
The Line: Over 2.5 +115, Under 2.5 -150
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Slovakia is hosting Croatia at Tehelne Pole Stadion in round 5 of Group H of the World Cup Qualifications. Slovakia isn’t scoring a lot of goals, and they are not in good form, but they still have a decent shot at qualifying for the World Cup. Croatia is also not scoring a lot of goals, but there is a ton of talent in this team, and they are at the top of this group right now.
As I’ve mentioned, Slovakia hasn’t won any of their last 3 games, and they didn’t win against Slovenia a few days ago. Slovakia has had 52% of ball possession in this match, 2 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks, 2 big chances created, and a decent 84% of the correct passes. The first half of this game was interesting, and we saw two goals, one on each side, but neither team has dared to step up in the second half, and the final score of this match was 1-1. With 2 scored goals, Skrinar is the leading goalscorer for Slovakia, and he is a defender, which tells you pretty much all you need to know about their offense. Slovakia has also been sloppy on the defensive end, and they have conceded 4 goals in 4 games. Slovakia can still reach that second place, but they would need to beat Russia and Croatia, and I’m not sure they have what it takes to do that.
Croatia has won only 1 of their last 7 games, and in some ways, their form is worse than Slovakia’s. Croatia is a good team, they have a lot of talent in every position, but replacing Modric is a task, not even Real Madrid can complete. In their game against Russia on the road a few days ago, Croatia has dominated the possession, they had 60%, they also had 2 shots on goal, 6 corner kicks, 12 shots inside the box, 83% of the correct passes, but they just couldn’t score a goal. Defensively, Croatia was solid, and this game has ended in a 0-0 draw. Croatia has 7 points so far, and they are at the top of this group, but only because they have a better goal difference than Russia. Brekalo, Modric, Perisic, and Pasalic have each scored 1 goal for Croatia so far in these qualifications. The biggest problem for Croatia right now is the lack of goals, and that is something they will need in these qualifications, but coach Dalic must find a way to utilize all the great strikers he has, and he has quite a few of them.
Slovakia has never beaten Croatia in the past, and I don’t think they will start now. Yes, Slovakia is playing at home, but they are not creating chances or scoring goals, while Croatia has a lot of depth and quality on the bench, and I think that will be crucial in this game.