Two teams who suffered contrasting results on matchday one in the Nations League meet on Sunday night, as Croatia come up against Poland at the Opus Arena.
The hosts could hardly have asked for a tougher start to their campaign with a trip to Portugal in midweek, and so it proved as they fell to defeat.
That being said, Zlatko Dalic’s side put in a spirited display when going down 2-1 to the Selecao, on a night where our man Andy Delaney delivered a couple of winning selections.
Back on home soil for their second assignment of their Group A1 campaign, Croatia will look to bounce back by collecting all three points against Poland.
The Eagles made a flying start to their campaign by claiming a last-gasp winner in a frantic 3-2 win over Scotland at Hampden on Thursday.
That was just the tonic for Michal Probierz and his team after they bowed out of Euro 2024 with a bit of a whimper earlier this year.
How the bookies view it: Chequered Ones to chalk up win
Despite coming away from their opening game empty-handed, Croatia are firm 7/10 favourites on Bet 365.
Poland pitch up in Osijek as big outsiders at 4/1 on Bet 365 while a share of the spoils can be backed at a best price of 3/1 on Betfred.
Head to head: History favours the hosts
Sunday night’s encounter will represent just the sixth-ever meeting between the two nations and a first clash since 2008. Croatia have claimed top honours from the three of the five previous fixtures, with Poland winning once and the other ending all square.
Players to watch: Modric magic to inspire hosts?
Croatia captain Luka Modric has scored in two of his last five outings for his country and he has been priced up at 9/5 (Bet 365) for a goal or an assist on Sunday night.
Robert Lewandowski netted his 83rd goal for Poland on Thursday night and he is as big as 7/4 (Bet 365) to add to his impressive tally this weekend.
Predicted line-ups
Croatia will once again be unable to call upon injured trio Josip Stanisic, Lovro Majer, and Martin Erlic.
After coming off the bench to score the winning goal against Scotland on Thursday, Piotr Zielinski could come into the Polish starting XI on Sunday night.
Croatia: Livakovic; Pongracic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, L. Sucic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Ivanusec
Poland: Skorupski; Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior; Frankowski, Zielinski, Szymanski, Moder, Zalewski; Piatek, Lewandowski
Anything else catch the eye?
Goals have been a running theme in Poland games of late, making both teams to score worthy of consideration at 4/5 with UniBet.
Following the Eagles’ aforementioned 3-2 thriller with Scotland on Thursday, BTTS has now landed in each of their last six matches.
The same bet would have also generated profit from four of Croatia's last five matches across all competitions, so there is plenty of scope for a repeat on Sunday night.
This UEFA Nations League match between Croatia and Poland will be played on Sep 8, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Croatia vs Poland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
