WALES face a huge crunch home tie against a hurting Croatia on Sunday as they bid to keep their Euro 2024 dreams alive.
Rob Page's side warmed up for the clash with a bloodless friendly win against Gibraltar where they raced into a four-goal lead by half time, but didn't add any more goals after the interval at Wrexham.
But facing the World Cup third best team Croats will be an almighty challenge for the Welsh.
However, the Croats were stunned in Osijek on Thursday when they crashed to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Turkey, who took over at the top of the table. It was no smash and grab either – the Turks had more shots on target than their hosts.
Wales managed an impressive 1-1 draw in Split earlier this year and Page spoke after the Gibraltar game to insist it was proof they can go toe-to-toe with them. They would leapfrog them in the table with a win because of a better head-to-head record.
The Welsh do have a superb record of massive wins at their Cardiff City Stadium fortress and have still to host the Turks in their final group game next month.
How the bookies view it
Wales are 29/10 outsiders on Sunday with Coral.
Croatia are favourites and are mostly odds-on although again Coral are prepared to go odds-against at 21/20. The draw is 12/5 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
Wales have never defeated Croatia in seven meetings,
However, the last two meetings both finished 1-1 including earlier in this campaign as stated in Split. Previous to that, Croatia won four games in a row.
Players to watch
Kieffer Moore helped himself to a double against the minnows of Gibraltar and the Bournemouth striker is 7/2 to score again on Sunday with Paddy Power.
Dinamo Zagreb striker Bruno Petkovic has scored six goals in his last seven games and also netted a double for Croatia in their 5-0 win against Latvia – his tenth for his country in 33 caps. He is 2/1 favourite with Boylesporst to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
This is a must-win game for Wales, but they are up against one of Europe's best sides and it could be a step too far even with the fervent home atmosphere helping them.
In the past two years, Croatia have won away in the Netherlands, Turkey, France, Austria, Denmark and Scotland.
They are arguably better away from home than in the Balkans, as they showed in midweek. They look a solid price for a narrow win here.
It could well be a tight game in Cardiff and it wouldn't be a massive shock if a goal decides this. Go for under 1.5 goals at 9/4 with William Hill.
This Euro 2024 match between Wales and Croatia will be played on Oct 15, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Wales vs Croatia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
