The third match of what promises to be an entertaining day of football at the FIFA World Cup on Sunday sees the 2018 finalists Croatia in action against an exciting Canada team.
Croatia probably picked up a point they didn’t really do much to earn in their opening match while Canada deserved an awful lot more than the nothing they got to open up their campaign so both go in search of a first win here
Where to watch
This match will follow the previous one on the BBC 1 channel in the UK. The build-up begins at 3.40pm and the game kicks off at 4pm.
Croatia
Much like four years ago, Croatia went into this competition perceived as a team who could do something if everything went right. Expectations were heightened a little by their good form prior to the tournament. Their was an air of caution though because there was always a danger that they could join the long list of teams who look good but lack a top clinical striker and there was certainly evidence of that in their opening draw with Morocco. They controlled a lot of the play but nobody was really in position to convert their good play.
The other concern over the Croatians was that their defence might just have aged a little too much for comfort. Those concerns weren’t really nullified. Where there is a positive is the are an experienced team who know how to play well in tournament football and that will stand them in good stead because there is a little bit of pressure on them here with them not having got off to a winning start. With Belgium to come, Croatia will know a win here while not paramount will be extremely useful.
Canada
This is exciting times for Canadian football. They are in a World Cup for the first time in 36 years and it is less than four years before they will get the chance to co-host the tournament. They also have a club riding high in the MLS and a young, vibrant team who are enjoyable to watch but all of that only really matters so much. Results is what they’ll get judged on and having lost their first game there is a real need for a result here.
They would have come away from the match against Belgium delighted with their performance, their manager pretty much gave that away in that huddle after the match, but they won’t have liked the result, not least because they deserved a whole lot more than what they got. The downside to having a young, inexperienced squad at this level is that they can sometimes wilt in the big moments and that cost them against Belgium when they missed a penalty which would have given them the lead and you sense they would have grown from there. They need to take those positives but just bring a more clinical edge to the party with them.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Croatia have a fitness concern over the former West Ham United player Nikola Vlasic after he was forced off at half time in the draw against Morocco in the opening game. Mateo Kovacic played most of that game and should be in line to feature again.
The big question for Canada coach John Herdman is whether his captain Atiba Hutchison is able to go in a second high intensity match in four days at the age of 39. If he isn’t them Samuel Piette could come in. Cyle Larin could start alongside Jonathan David.
Betting
There are two selections in this match which I love to double up in a bet builder which pays almost even money. The first leg of it is for Croatia to pick up more than 1.5 cards. The Canada coach has done the Croatia team talk for them here by running his mouth but he has been clever because he will have the Croatians playing with emotion rather than the control they want their experienced players to be playing with. Croatia have some real card magnets in their ranks at the best of time anyway let alone when fire is fuelling their bellies. Canada draw fouls and bookings with the pace and fluency they play with and just to add to the potential we have an inexperienced Uruguayan arbiter taking charge of the match. I expect Croatia to pick up a couple of bookings here.
We can add to it Canada to have more than 7.5 shots to bump it up to around the even money. In fairness, you could add a few more shots to that to boost the price to wherever you want it because I expect them to rain in on the Croatia goal. I’ve had a poor tournament so far though so I’ll take the minimum to get a backable price. Canada had 21 shots against Belgium so just over a third of that tally here is perfectly achievable on a team who press high, make the pitch big and who get to take on another defence which is getting no younger. We’re only looking for shots here regardless of where they end up. Morocco were very pedestrian, looked to contain rather than go at Croatia in their opening match yet they still had eight shots. I expect Canada to have this total covered very comfortably. Put the two together and you get an almost even money double via the bet builder option.
Tips
Back Croatia – Over 1.5 cards + Canada – Over 7.5 shots (bet builder) for a 5/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
