An exciting contest is expected as Belgium host Croatia in an international friendly at the Stade Roi Baudouin. Both teams have struggled to get clean sheets and given the quality in each attack, Sunday’s clash is likely to produce goals.
Belgium were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at home by Greece in their previous friendly. Playing without Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, they lacked creativity and failed to build on Thorgan Hazard’s early opener.
Manager Roberto Martinez will be disappointed with the result and will be keen to get his team firing before their opening fixture at Euro 2020. They remain one of the form teams in Europe and are unbeaten in their last eight matches, claiming six wins in that run.
The Belgians still possess one of the best attacks and the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Thorgan Hazard are likely to get more joy against the Croats than the more compact Greeks. They remain suspect at the back however, with just one clean sheet from their last 11 matches.
Croatia are also coming off a draw as they were held 1-1 by Armenia in their previous fixture. They failed to build on Ivan Perisic's first half opener and were guilty of spurning clear cut openings before conceding the equaliser.
Zlatko Dalic's men have not been at their best lately with just two wins from their last eight matches across all competitions. Both wins have come against lower ranked teams, beating Cyprus and Malta in their opening two matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
The Croats tend to struggle against the bigger teams in recent times losing 3-2 to Portugal and suffering a 2-1 defeat to France in their last eight matches. Like the Belgians they are also unconvincing at the back with just two clean sheets in their last 12 matches.
How the bookies view it
Belgium are considered favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 17/20 by Unibet. Croatia are outsiders at 15/4 with the same firm while a draw is set at odds of 11/4 with bet365.
While both teams have struggled for clean sheets, the Belgians boast more firepower in attack and should edge this one.
Head to head
Croatia have a 3-2 advantage with two draws from seven previous matches against Belgium. The Belgians won the most recent meeting, claiming a 2-1 victory during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers with Romelu Lukaku scoring a brace.
Players to watch
Striker Romelu Lukaku remains the biggest attacking threat for Belgium and is priced at 10/11 with Vbet to score anytime. Winger Thorgan Hazard could also be worth keeping an eye on following his goal last time out and is valued at 3/1 by bet365 in the same market.
Ivan Perisic carries the goal threat for Croatia and has scored in his last two international matches. The winger is priced at 13/5 with bet365 in the anytime goalscorer market.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the attacking quality expected to be on display, both teams could be backed to score at 7/10 by Sporting Index. Over 2.5 goals could be worth a punt at 4/5 with William Hill while over 3.5 goals is priced at 2/1 with SpreadEX.
Both teams could be backed to score in the second half at 21/10 with Skybet while Belgium are likely to earn a win and over 2.5 goals at 7/4 with bet365.
This International Friendly match between Belgium and Croatia will be played on Jun 6, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Belgium vs Croatia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
