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The Croatian football team enjoyed their second ‘golden generation’ under the guidance of Zlatko Dalic, when the ‘chequered ones’ reached the final of the FIFA World Cup 2018. However, things took a dip for the Blazers since that night in Moscow. Croatia failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League, and then suffered a shocking defeat against Hungary in the second match of their UEFA Euro 2020 qualification campaign. Things have been well since and they are now sitting at the top of Group E with 10 points from five games.
On Sunday (October 13), they will be taking on Ryan Giggs’ Wales side at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff. Wales have had issues with consistency and are currently placed in fourth position. Given the scheme of things in Group E, things can change drastically in the blink of an eye.
Last Meeting between the sides
Croatia and Wales engaged in an entertaining battle in June of this year, at the Stadion Gradski vrt at Osijek. An own-goal from Jamie Lawrence and an Ivan Perisic strike gave Croatia a two-goal lead, but David Brooks reduced the deficit for the visitors. Unfortunately for him, his strike went in vain as the Croatian defence stood firm.
Croatia slightly ahead of Wales
Had this match been played a year ago, Croatia would have been the clear cut favourites. Though things have changed since and the aging superstars of Croatia aren’t getting any younger, they are still the favourites but by a very slender margin.
A victory for Zlatko Dalic’s side on Sunday is trading at 2.29 on BigPesa. On the other hand, Ryan Giggs’ side will want to claim all three points in front of their fans and a win for them is trading at 2.8. A draw is trading at 3.05.
Strong Welsh defence expected to have a good game
Ryan Giggs will have many issues to address before the match against Croatia, but defence certainly isn’t one of those issues. The Welsh defence has been pretty solid so far and have conceded the fewest number of goals by any team from Group E.
However, their attackers have failed miserably so far. Though the Croatian attackers have done a good job thus far, they will face a sturdy defence on Sunday.
As per BigPesa, a 1-1 draw is the most preferred score-line, with the odds valued at 6.6. It will surely be a hard-fought contest.
