This is a key match in Group L with all to play for. A draw would almost certainly see both sides through, but a defeat for Croatia and they may miss out on qualifying for the next round entirely.
So what can we expect when these two clash on Saturday night? Let’s find out.
Double Chance for Ghana
Croatia haven’t been great so far and were well-beaten by England before doing the bare minimum against Panama. Having also beaten Panama 1-0 themselves, Ghana put in a real shift against England and are looking like an extremely organised team, hard to score against and even harder to beat.
The fact that it’s Croatia that needs to force the issue and look for the win could well play into the hands of Ghana, who will be happy to soak up the pressure and do something on the break.
It’s debatable as to whether Croatia should be the favourites at all here, let alone at odds-on, so having the Ghana win and crucially, the draw, on our side at 1.95 looks the way to go.
- Betting tip: Back Ghana or Draw on the Double Chance market
- Odds: 1.95 (at the time of writing)
- Key Stat: Ghana aren’t a side for high-scoring games with their last 12 matches producing nine under 2.5 goals games and eight of the 12 seeing at least one of the two teams keeping a clean sheet.
Croatia
After a 4-2 loss to England, Croatia made sure they won the game they really needed to, against the team that is theoretically the weakest in the group – Panama – to make sure they’re still in the hunt.
A draw would see them very likely to progress as one of the best-third placed teams, a win and they’ll probably finish second behind England (or even top the group if England weren’t to win), while a defeat here, especially if by more than one goal, would make it hard for them to progress, unless other results went their way.
They have substitute Ante Budimir to thank for that winner against Panama in a game they should have won comfortably, but where they ended up having just two shots on target.
Luka Modric will play his 201st game for Croatia with Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic alongside him in the heart of midfield.
- Player to watch: Luka Modric - 1.8 to be fouled 2 or more times / 2.8 to score or assist anytime
Ghana
Four points from two games is an excellent return for Ghana, especially when you consider that the draw was against England, one of the tournament favourites.
That 0-0 stalemate wasn’t pretty. Ghana had just one shot on target the whole game and only 21% possession, but they got the point they wanted, and that could prove to make all the difference.
Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz is perfectly in his element here, managing an underdog team with a system based on frustrating the opposition, keeping clean sheets, and ensuring every player works extremely hard, from 1 to 11. In summary, they’re just the sort of team no one wants to be playing.
- Player to watch: Bejamin Asare (Goalkeeper) - 4.0 to make 5 or more saves.
Did you know?
Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz is no stranger to managing national teams, having done so before with Portugal (twice), the UAE, South Africa, Iran (twice), Colombia, Egypt, Qatar and Oman.
