Wales vs Croatia tips and predictions: Home crowd can spur Dragons towards valiant qualifying draw
- Robbie Savage
- 12 October 2023
Planet Sport Bet ambassador Robbie Savage is backing his nation to keep their Euro 2024 qualifying hopes alive with a draw against group leaders Croatia.
It’s going to be a real tough game. The 4-0 win over Gibraltar was a great workout. Valuable minutes for players, Kieffer Moore with two goals, his aerial threat is huge.
Wales have kept three clean sheets in a row now, they’ve only won three in the last 15 internationals.
I think it’s a must-not-lose game for Rob Page’s side. Huge players out for Wales, but the atmosphere at home at Cardiff could be brilliant for Wales.
I think a 1-1 draw, a repeat of the reverse fixture and I think that would be a fantastic result for Wales.
Robbie’s Tip: Wales 1-1 Croatia
Team news
With Aaron Ramsey out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, Ben Davies will captain the team on Sunday.
Wales handed senior debuts to Joe Low, Regan Poole, Charlie Savage and Liam Cullen against Gibraltar, though Rob Page is expected to go with a far more experienced side ahead of Croatia's visit.
Speaking of the visitors, Zlatko Dalic was without Matija Frigan, Andrej Kramaric, Mislav Orsic and Ivan Perisic for Thursday's 1-0 defeat against Turkey.
Key stats
- Wales have never beaten Croatia in seven attempts
- Last two meetings have ended 1-1
- Wales are unbeaten in three games, keep a clean sheet in each
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Wales will be determined to resurrect their Euro 2024 qualifying hopes with a result against Croatia.
Rob Page and his men sit fourth in the group having picked up seven points from five games.
With just three points separating fourth-placed Wales and second-placed Croatia, there’s no room for error heading into the final stretch of qualifying.
Page’s men appear to have shaken off their poor run of form which at one point saw them boast one win from 13 international outings.
Back-to-back victories over Latvia and Gibraltar have undoubtedly restored some confidence, though it’s fair to say that Croatia will be a whole different challenge when it comes to the level of opposition.
The Croats have lost just three of their last 20 games – one against Argentina at the World Cup, another against Spain on penalties in the Nations League final, and the latest one against Turkey on Thursday night.
Wales will be hoping the Cardiff City stadium atmosphere can act as their 12th man when the Croatians put their stellar record on the line.
With the home support behind them and a bit of momentum on their side, there’s no reason why the Welsh can’t battle out a draw.
Our recommendation is for both teams to share a point and both to get on the scoresheet.
