The second match at Euro 2020 on Friday comes from Hampden Park in Glasgow as the World Cup finalists Croatia take on the former finalists of this competition in the form of the Czech Repubic in a pretty big match in Group D.
Croatia were beaten in their opening match so the emphasis is on them to get something out of this one especially as the Czechs took advantage of the supposedly weak game in the group to get three points on the board at the earliest opportunity.
Where to watch
This match will be on BBC1 for those of us who are in the UK. The build-up to the game begins at 4.35pm and the match will kick off at 5pm.
Croatia
If you are a Croatian fan you would hope that there is a lot more to come from a side who were really quite average in their opening match at Wembley on Sunday afternoon. I get that England are a scary side to play against with the attacking options they have but Croatia seemingly went in without a plan and just looked completely toothless. They couldn’t get the ball or keep control of it and Jordan Pickford in the England goal.
They are going to need a serious improvement on that showing to have any chance in this match. The Czech defence looked there for the taking earlier in the week so that should give the Croatians a little bit of confidence going into this one, but then so was the English one and they never threatened it at all. The Croatians are going to need a whole lot more from their classy midfield if they are to come out with the win they desire.
Czech Republic
In a way I sort of feel sorry for the Czech Republic because I’m not sure they are getting enough credit for their win over Scotland. They might not have beaten much in the Scots, we’ll only really know that after the other game in this group on Friday, but they beat them fairly comfortably. I get that there is the school of thought that they rode their lucky defensively but the Czech keeper wasn’t too overworked. What they did do was highlight the advantage of having a striker in form in the squad.
The other thing you could tell from the Czechs in the opening match was how confident they are. You can tell that by the fact that everyone wanted the ball and that when they were leading the game they never went into their shell. They won the match courtesy of a couple of excellent goals and now they just need to avoid defeat in one of their last two matches to make it into the knockout stages yet again.
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Team News
Dejan Lovren is expected to be fit to feature in this match after recovering from a knee ligament injury. Croatia surely have to make changes up front because playing Ante Rebic there just didn’t work. Bruno Petkovic is an option.
The Czechs are not expected to make any changes from the side which saw off the Scots in their opening match on this ground. That means that once again West Ham pair Tomas Soucek and Vladmir Coufal will be involved.
Betting
I can’t be having Croatia in this match. I think we saw against England just why they have only won two of their last 10 matches now. Those wins were only against Cyprus and Malta and you don’t get a lot of brownie points for that. They looked an aging side at Wembley and while Czech Republic aren’t as good as England, they carry plenty of confidence into this match. The only reason I’m not backing the Czechs to win at the very attractive prices on offer about them is because they don’t need to win, a draw would be fine.
You can get almost even money on the Czechs with the +0.25 start on the Asian lines which I think is a fair enough punt. We get a half win if the match ends in a draw and a full one if the Czechs win the game, which certainly isn’t out of the equation. Unless there is a serious improvement in Croatia, and those last 10 matches suggest that isn’t guaranteed, then I think the Czech Republic come away from the game with some kind of result.
Tips
Back Czech Republic (+0.25AH) to beat Croatia for a 3/10 stake at 1.99 with BetVictor
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