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Seeking a fourth win on the trot in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Croatia welcome Slovakia to the Stadion Gradski vrt in Osijek on Monday.
The visitors, meanwhile, fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Russia last time out and will look to quickly bounce back from that performance.
Croatia maintained their fine run of results in the World Cup qualifiers as they claimed a comprehensive 3-0 win over Cyprus.
This was a third win on the bounce for Zlatko Dalic’s men after they saw off Slovakia 1-0 on 1 September, before securing a 3-0 win over Slovenia three days later.
With 16 points from seven games, Croatia currently lead the way in Group H, level on points with Russia.
Meanwhile, Slovakia failed to make it two wins from two last time out as they were beaten 1-0 by Russia.
Prior to that, Stefan Tarkovic’s side claimed a 2-0 win over Cyprus when the sides squared off on September 7.
Russia head into Monday’s encounter winless in all but one of their most recent six outings, picking up one draw and losing one.
Croatia vs Slovakia Head-To-Head
Croatia have been dominant against the hosts and are unbeaten in each of their last five encounters. The hosts have picked up two wins, while three games have ended in draws.
Croatia Form Guide (all competitions): L-D-W-W-W
Slovakia Form Guide (all competitions): L-D-L-W-L
Croatia vs Slovakia Team News
Croatia
Josip Juranović and Dejan Lovren were not available for these qualifiers due to injury.
Mateo Kovačić has been suspended for this game due to yellow card accumulation. He will be replaced by Mario Pasalić.
Injured: Josip Juranović, Dejan Lovren
Suspended: Mateo Kovačić
Slovakia
The visitors remain without the services of Stanislav Lobotka and Vladimir Weiss, who have been ruled out through muscle and hamstring injuries.
Injured: Stanislav Lobotka, Vladimir Weiss
Suspended: None
Croatia vs Slovakia Predicted XI
Croatia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Dominik Livaković; Josip Stanišić, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Joško Gvardiol, Borna Sosa; Luka Modrić, Marcelo Brozović, Mario Pasalić; Nikola Vlašić, Andrej Kramarić, Ivan Perišić
Slovakia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Marek Rodák; Peter Pekarík, Ľubomír Šatka, Milan Škriniar, Jakub Holúbek; Marek Hamšík, Stanislav Lobotka, Juraj Kucka; Ivan Schranz, Erik Jirka, Róbert Mak
Croatia vs Slovakia Prediction
Slovakia find themselves in the bottom half of Group H after an underwhelming start to the World Cup qualifiers. The hosts, meanwhile, head into the game on a blistering run and we predict they will maintain this fine string of results and extend their lead at the top of Group H.
Prediction: Croatia 3-1 Slovakia
