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Croatia and Denmark meet tonight in what will be the fourth knockout tie of the World Cup. It has been a long wait for both these sides to enter the knockout phase with Denmark last qualifying from their group in 2002 while Croatia did the same last in 1998.
This has given added impetus to this tie with both sides being impressive going into tonight's battle in Nizhny Novgorod. Croatia have impressed with their attacking abilities whereas Denmark have been a perfect mix of creative play and a pragmatic approach.
Croatia Team News
The Vatreni heavily rotated their side in the final group game against Iceland, making nine changes from a 3-0 win against Argentina. Only Ivan Perisic and Luka Modric kept their place in the starting lineup.
Expect Croatia to play in their strongest 4-2-3-1 formation with Mario Mandzukic as the lone striker and Luka Modric playing in an advanced role behind him.
Croatia Key Players
Luka Modric - Arguably, Modric was the best player from the group stages and the midfielder will again be key in exploiting spaces against a resilient Denmark side.
Ivan Perisic - The Inter Milan winger gives Croatia a different dimension going forward. Perisic's pace and end product can prove to be the difference between the two sides.
Mario Mandzukic - Though Mandzukic scored just 9 goals for Juventus last season, his work rate and physicality is extremely crucial to Croatia going forward.
Group stage results
Croatia 2-0 Nigeria
Croatia 3-0 Argentina
Croatia 2-1 Iceland
Croatia Team Form
Luka Modric and co have lost just two friendlies this calendar year - against Brazil and Peru. Coming to Russia, Croatia won one and lost one practice game before the main tournament got underway. But despite managerial turmoil, the Vatreni achieved a brilliant turnaround and were one of the three sides that went unbeaten in the group stages.
Denmark Team News
William Kvist is again a doubt for this match. He broke his ribs against Peru and has been out ever since. There are no other injury concerns for Denmark. The Scandinavian side are expected to stick around with Martin Brathwaite ahead of Yussuf Poulsen.
Denmark Key Players
Christian Eriksen - The playmaker is Denmark's biggest hope of defeating Croatia. He has had 4 shots on target this World Cup and has 13 goals and 5 assists to his name in his last 16 appearances for Denmark.
Kasper Schmeichel - With 2 clean sheets in 3 matches, Schmeichel has already stamped his authority on this side. The Leicester City custodian has made 12 saves in three matches and has conceded just the one goal, the penalty against Iceland.
Pione Sisto: The nimble-footed, wily left winger can possess a lot of questions to Croatia's defence.
Group stage results
Demark 1-0 Peru
Denmark 1-1 Australia
Denmark 0-0 France
Denmark Team Form
Just as Croatia, Denmark have lost only two games this calendar year. Both of their losses came as friendlies in the month of January. The Scandinavian side were unbeaten in their practice games coming into the World Cup. Scoring has been an issue for them, Denmark have scored just two goals in three games at the World Cup.
Croatia vs Denmark - Head to Head
These sides have met each other five times. Croatia and Denmark have won two apiece with one of the fixtures ending in a draw. The last meeting between these two teams came in 2004 where Croatia beat Denmark 2-1 in a friendly.
Key Stats
- Croatia have won all of their three matches coming into this game which is their longest ever streak of wins in the competition.
- Denmark's knockout stage matches in the World Cup have produced 4.75 goals per game (19 goals in 4 matches). Denmark have scored 7 and conceded 12.
- Luka Modric is all set to become Croatia's joint most capped player in major tournaments with 18 appearances along with Darijo Srna.
Predicted lineups
Croatia - Subasic; Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Strinic; Rakitic, Badelj; Rebic, Modric, Perisic; Mandzukic
Denmark - Schmeichel; Larsen, Christensen, Kjaer, Dalsgaard; Schone, Delaney; Sisto, Eriksen, Poulsen; Jorgensen
Match prediction
Croatia 1-0 Denmark (after extra time)
Denmark have proved to be a tough nut to crack this World Cup and we expect goals to come hard by in this one. But Croatia have just enough artillery in their skill set to cross Denmark's hurdle but they might have to grind it out to achieve the desired result.
