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Croatia welcome Cyprus to the HNK Rijeka Stadium in Rujevica in their FIFA World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
The hosts suffered a 1-0 defeat in their opening fixture of the qualifying campaign against Slovenia. Meanwhile, Cyprus held Slovakia to a goalless draw on Wednesday night.
With nine more games to go in the qualifying group stage, Zlatko Dalić's men will be looking to get back to winning ways in this home game. Cyprus are 89 places behind the hosts in the FIFA rankings.
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Croatia vs Cyprus Head-to-Head
The two national teams have squared off just once before in an international friendly in 2014. Kockasti recorded a 2-0 win in that encounter with Mario Mandzukic bagging a brace.
Croatia form guide: L-L-L-L-W
Cyprus form guide: D-L-W-D-L
Croatia vs Cyprus Team News
Croatia
The only injury concern for the hosts ahead of this game is Dinamo Zagreb striker Bruno Petkovic, who has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury.
Despite fielding a strong starting XI against Slovenia, Dalić's men suffered a narrow loss. We do not expect him to make a lot of changes in this game, but Duje Ćaleta-Car could replace Domagoj Vida in the defense.
Kristijan Lovrić is in contention to make his debut after Nikola Vlašić failed to impress on the wing.
Injured: Bruno Petkovic
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Cyprus
The visitors have not had any players ruled out on account of injuries or suspensions. We do not expect Nikos Kostenoglou to make any changes to the team which faced Slovakia.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Croatia vs Cyprus Predicted XI
Croatia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Dominik Livakovic; Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovren, Duje Caleta-Car, Borna Barisic; Luka Modric, Milan Badelj, Marcelo Brozovic; Mario Pasalic, Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric
Cyprus Predicted XI (3-4-3): Demetris Demetriou; Ioannis Kousoulos, Constantinos Soteriou, Constantinos Laifis; Minas Antoniou, Kostakis Artymatas, Nicholas Ioannou; Marios Elia, Andreas Avraam, Ioannis Pittas
Croatia vs Cyprus Prediction
Croatia are the favorites in this fixture, at least on paper. There is a clear difference in the quality of the squads, which will be a major factor in determining the outcome of the game.
Both teams failed to score their first goal of the campaign and will be looking to open the scoring in this game. Although the hosts failed to pick up a point in the previous game, we believe they will to record a win here.
Prediction: Croatia 2-1 Cyprus
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