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Croatia will take on Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition on the 9th of December at the Education City Stadium.
The Croatians will look to be much more clinical in attack as they secure qualification for this round of the competition on the back of a penalty shoot-out win over now-eliminated Japan.
The Brazilian national team, on the other hand, will be looking to maintain their scoring consistency. They cruised past South Korea in their previous game 4-1.
On that note, this article will look at three key individual battles that could determine the outcome of this encounter.
Without further ado, let's look at them.
#3 Neymar vs Marcelo Brozović
Neymar is one of the finest dribblers currently in the footballing world and his attacking prowess is immense.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward has an outstanding ability to score goals and also create enough room for his teammates. Affording Neymar enough room to move with the ball in and around the penalty box could be dangerous. Monitoring his movements in attack is a tough task and Brozovic will have his work cut out.
Brozovic’s ability to protect the back line with his defensive positioning is outstanding. However, he will need to be at his best to prevent Neymar from getting enough space and time with the ball in attack. It will be interesting to see if Brozovic and Croatia's midfield will be able to keep Neymar under their tabs.
#2 Ivan Perisic vs Eder Militao
Perisic is one of Croatia's most experienced attackers and his intuition in the final third of the pitch is exceptional.
Furthermore, Perisic's ability to tee up his teammates in attack is also remarkable as he has registered two assists in the competition so far. Keeping an eye on his movement in attack is a difficult task and one that Militao is set to take on.
Militao has one clean sheet under his belt in the competition so far, and his defensive intuition has also been impressive in Brazil's defense. It will be interesting to see if he can silence Perisic in this encounter.
#1 Richarlison vs Dejan Lovren
Richarlison is arguably one of the best-performing attackers in this year's edition of the World Cup competition and his contributions in attack have been valuable.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward has been clinical in attack and has netted three goals in the competition so far. Furthermore, his ability to convert all kinds of opportunities in the final third of the pitch is immense.
Keeping him in check in attack is a difficult task as he can easily shrug off defenders and produce a decent finish. Lovren will have to be sharp and robust if he intends to keep Richarlison under his tabs.
However, Lovren is highly experienced and his defensive intuition is immense. It would be interesting to see if he will be able to stop Richarlison.
