Croatia vs Scotland
Croatia vs Scotland takes place at Hampden Park in Glasgow on June 22 with both teams realistically needing a victory if they are to progress from Group C to the knockout stages of Euro2020. Croatia drew with the Czech Republic in this stadium last time out while Scotland frustrated England in a 0-0 draw at Wembley. Read on for more analysis, match predictions and betting tips.
Form
It’s crunch time for Croatia, who have failed to win either of their opening two games in a major tournament for the first time since the 2006 World Cup. They were sluggish to start against the Czech Republic and former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren made things worse when he caught Patrick Schick’s nose with his elbow to give away a penalty. However, in the second half Croatia showed some of their attacking promise, with Ivan Perisic becoming the first Croatian to score in four separate finals tournaments. If Croatia can get out of the blocks quickly, Scotland will find it hard.
Scotland fans were ecstatic that they kept pre-match hot favourites England out in what was a hugely frustrating game for England. However, pluck and courage will only get Scotland so far and now they need to win if they are to get anywhere further in this tournament. So far they have failed to score a goal, missing a host of chances against the Czech Republic and registering only two shots on goal vs England. That will have to change quickly or the adventure will come to an end for Scotland.
Injuries
Dejan Lovren recovered from injury to play in the draw with the Czech Republic and with no further knocks picked up Zlatko Dalic should have a full squad to choose from. Skipper Luka Modric has talked about how much harder Croatia have to work in this game, having run 12km less than Czech Republic in their second game while Dalic has questions around his continued role as head coach with his team struggling to create chances. Whether he rejigs things for this crunch game remains to be seen.
With Kieran Tierney back to full fitness Scotland boss Steve Clarke has a full squad to choose from. He’ll be hoping that remains the case up until Tuesday, especially considering how well Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour played on his starting debut for Scotland. It’s probable that Scotland will continue with Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes in the forward positions but they will need better from their strike pairing if they are to win.
Match Predictions
Croatia are favourites, but only marginally with bookies offering around 2.25 against them winning the game. These two teams have only played each other five times before and Croatia have never won; in front of a partisan crowd in Glasgow that will be a hard record to break. Both the over/under 2.5 goals line and BTTS markets are very even which shows just how hard this game is to call. We think that this will be a tough game, and it might be a game to play safe with betting tips by going for a handicap like Scotland +1.
