Croatia VS Azerbaijan Match Prediction
2019-03-21
19:45:00
Croatia
VS
Azerbaijan
Our Prediction Tip
Croatia will win this match.
2019-03-2119:45:00 Croatia will win this match.
Croatia and Azerbaijan have only met in two previous games, both of which were in qualifying for the last European Championships. Croatia won 6-0 at home, with Ivan Perisic scoring twice and Andrej Kramaric, Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric (with a penalty) and an own goal ensuring a comfortable win. The reverse fixture in Baku ended in a goalless draw, however.
On home soil, given their unbeaten record over the last five years, you would back Croatia to beat anyone – their most recent home win was against Spain, just to prove that point.
Against Azerbaijan, however, they should not only be beating them but beating them comfortably too.
Azerbaijan put in a decent enough UEFA Nations League showing until a heavy defeat to Kosovo curtailed their chances of topping the group, but there is a vast difference between the tier-four nations and tier-one teams like Croatia.
With Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic continuing to pull the strings in midfield for Croatia and attacking impetus provided by Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric – who has opened the scoring in their last two games – they still have a large core of their World Cup side.
The Croats have been handed what looks to be a favourable draw on paper, and they should reach Euro 2020 relatively comfortably.
They will want to start well, however – and given their only previous home game against Azerbaijan finished with a 6-0 win, with the majority of this current squad involved, you would expect them to do just that.
Unsurprisingly, Croatia are huge favourites to beat Azerbaijan – they are a best price of 1/8 to win with Bet365.
They have never conceded a goal in this fixture and a Croatia win to nil improves that to a best price of 4/9 with Bet365 and Ladbrokes.
You can also back against both teams to score at 1/3 with Bet365, Ladbrokes, Betfair and Paddy Power.
Croatia put six past Azerbaijan in their only previous home match against them, while Azerbaijan lost their most recent game 4-0 to Kosovo. A winning margin of four goals or more returns 5/2 with Betway.
Betfair and Paddy Power are offering 8/5 on there being over 3.5 goals, meanwhile, and 21/5 on over 4.5 goals.
As for those goalscorers, Andrej Kramaric has opened the scoring in each of Croatia’s last two matches and he is 10/11 to score at any time with Betway.
Croatia still have the core of their World Cup team and boast an excellent record on home soil. They should see off Azerbaijan with few problems.
Marko Pjaca has withdrawn from the squad through injury, while Sime Vrsaljko, Josip Privaric and Matej Mitrovic were all unfit for selection too. Dinamo Zagreb striker Bruno Petkovic is the only uncapped player in an otherwise experienced Croatia squad, however.
Luka Modric – The Ballon d’Or winner remains a key part of this Croatian line-up, pulling the strings in midfield.
Ivan Rakitic – Alongside Modric, the Barcelona midfielder has now passed 100 Croatia caps, during which he has scored 15 goals.
Andrej Kramaric – Opened the scoring against both Spain and England in November, to move to 12 goals in 42 international appearances.
A pair of away defeats in the UEFA Nations League – 6-0 in Spain and 2-1 in England – sandwich two wins a draw on home soil for Croatia. A goalless draw in a closed stadium with England followed the thrashing in Spain, before Domagoj Vida and Matej Mitrovic scored in a 2-1 friendly win against Jordan. They then gained revenge against Spain as Andrej Kramaric opened the scoring an Tin Vedjav scored twice – including a last-minute winner – to claim a 3-2 win. Another Kramaric goal was not enough last time out against England, however – the hosts coming from behind to win.
Azerbaijan have made several changes from the squad which travelled to Kosovo for their final UEFA Nations League match. Rahid Amirguliyev, Javid Imamverdiyev and Afran Ismayilov are among the absentees, while forward Ruslan Qurbanov and defensive trio Urfan Abbasov, Pavel Pashayev and Shahriyar Aliyev also miss out. Goalkeeper Kamran Aghayev remains out of the squad too, with Salahat Aghayev the only capped keeper selected. Neftci defensive duo Omar Buludov and Anton Krivotsyuk are among six uncapped players in the squad in total.
Dimitrij Nazarov – His goal in the win against the Faroe Islands was his eighth for Azerbaijan, with the Erzgebirge Aue midfielder having now won 37 caps.
Mahir Madatov – Qarabag’s top league goalscorer so far this season with seven, which also makes him the top Azerbaijani goalscorer in the league.
Rufat Dadashov – Another German-based player, the Preussen Munster striker leads the line and has scored four goals in 20 appearances.
A 4-0 defeat to Kosovo in their final match meant Azerbaijan were denied top spot in their UEFA Nations League group, and ended their six-match unbeaten streak. They had previously beaten Faroe Islands, with Dimitrij Nazarov and Mahir Madatov scoring in November’s victory – their second against them. Draws home and away with Malta, both of which finished 1-1, and a stalemate at home to Kosovo meant they finished the group in second place.
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