Croatia vs Iceland
2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers – Europe, Group I.
Date: Saturday, 12th November 2016
Kick-off at 17:00 UK
Venue: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb.
This will be a clash between two sides who occupy the top two positions in the group and they share the same number of points as well which is seven points. Both sides won their first two matches and drew once. They have two points more then Ukraine who occupy third position. The last time they met was during the play-off for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, when Croatia won at home 2-0 and drew 0-0 in Reykjavik. Prior to that in 2006 Croatia won both times in the qualification for the world cup then.
Croatia :
The home side will expect to get the win in this match even though Iceland have made vast improvement of late. They will have to play this match in front of an empty stadium after being punished by UEFA. They only managed a 1-1 draw with Turkey after such a ban was imposed on them despite dominating the match. But since then Croatia won both matches against Kosovo and Finland in their next two games. They thrashed Kosovo by 6-0 and they managed a slim win over Finland by 1-0. Their coach Cacic knows it was important they did not suffer a defeat in either of those games since they will have a tough match against Iceland now.
As for the team news, they will miss the likes of stopper Lovren and striker Pjaca, while recently recovered midfielder Modric will at best start from the bench. It is likely that young Kovacic who plays better with every game will be given a chance to start this match.
Iceland:
Iceland reached Euro 2016 in what was the biggest surprise, so now their fans will expect them to give a good account of themselves once again. They did not had a good start as they could only managed a 1-1 draw with Ukraine. They did beat Finland by 3-2 after scoring 2 goals in stoppage time for a miraculous win. Then against Turkey they did well and came out with a 2-0 win. Now they will play this match in Zagreb without their fans supposet but the good news is their opponents will also play to an empty stadium.
As for the team news, midfielder Gunnarsson is back in the side after his suspension ended so they will have their strongest side available here now.
Croatia vs Iceland: Head to Head Statistics
Iceland and Croatia have only played 4 competitive games against each other, 2 each on their home grounds. The Croatian football team are unbeaten against Iceland in their past 4 meetings with 3 wins and a draw.
The Croats have won the two previous games at home against Iceland scoring 6 goals and conceded none. Furthermore, Iceland have scored just once against Croatia in their previous 4 games, while Croatia have scored 9 goals.
Croatia vs Iceland: Prediction
These two teams have been good recently, they in same phase of form. Iceland’s Euro Championship outing portrays how fast they have progressed in the past few years.
The good news in Croatia team is their defensive form, having conceded just once in their last 3 games. However, Iceland are not a low scoring side, they have been active in opponents end scoring 6 goals in their last 3. The game is expected to feature at least 3 goals while Iceland gets a win or draw in the game.
Croatia vs Iceland: Betting Tips
Double chance for Iceland to win or draw at 2.75
Total Match Goals: Over 2.5 goals at 1.91.
