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The international break sees the return of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with Cyprus hosting Croatia in UEFA Group H at the AEK Arena on Friday.
Cyprus have won just one of their six qualification games so far, a 1-0 home win over Slovenia back in March. However, they lost their next three qualifiers and find themselves at the bottom of the group.
Cyprus have picked up just four points from six games and have scored just once while conceding eight goals. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and are on course to continue that trend.
Croatia, on the other hand, are the highest-ranked country in Group H and sit at the top of the standings. They beat Slovenia 3-0 in their last fixture with goals from Marko Livaja, Mario Pasalic and Nikola Vlasic.
Croatia have picked up 13 points so far and are joined on 13 points by second-placed Russia, albeit with a better goal difference. Croatia finished as runners-up in the last edition of the World Cup and will hope they can go a step further next year.
Cyprus vs Croatia Head-to-Head
There have been just two meetings between Cyprus and Croatia in the past. The first meeting was a friendly game back in 2014 which Croatia won 2-0. The second match was the previous leg of Friday's fixture, with Croatia winning 1-0 in March.
Cyprus Form Guide (FIFA World Cup Qualifiers): L-L-L-W-L
Croatia Form Guide (FIFA World Cup Qualifiers): W-W-D-W-W
Cyprus vs Croatia Team News
Cyprus
Goalkeeper Antreas Kraynos is the only new face in the Cyprus camp and could make his debut for the country.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Croatia
Captain Luka Modric has returned to the squad after missing the last international break due to injury. Josip Stanisic of Bayern Munich and Kristijan Jakic of Eintracht Frankfurt have both been called up to the national team for the first time and could make their debuts this month.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Cyprus vs Croatia Predicted XI
Cyprus Predicted XI (3-4-3): Neofytos Michael; Nicolas Ioannou, Costas Soteriu, Fanos Katelari; Paris Psaltis, Grigoris Kastanos, Kostakis Artymatas, Andreas Avraam; Fotis Papoulis, Loizos Loizou, Ioannis Pittas
Croatia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ivica Ivusic; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Borna Barisic; Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic; Andrej Kramaric, Ivan Perisić, Marko Livaja
Cyprus vs Croatia Prediction
Cyprus have won just two of their last 20 games and are currently on a five-game losing and goalless streak. They have failed to score in all but one of their last nine games.
Croatia, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last three games and have not conceded in any of those encounters. The visitors should comfortably get the win on Friday.
Prediction: Cyprus 0-3 Croatia
