Russia vs Croatia Prediction & Betting Tips - World Cup

Prediction published on 29/08/2021, 17:59  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 29/08/2021 at 18:59 in World Cup Predictions

Russia had a disappointing Euro 2021 but have a chance to go top of 2022 World Cup qualifying Group A. They host Croatia who occupy that position at present but on the same number of points. Russia lost to Belgium and Denmark at Euro 2021 but did get a win over Finland. In this group, they started with two comfortable wins away in Malta and home to Slovenia with Artem Dzyuba scoring three goals. Their unbeaten record was lost when losing 2-1 in Slovakia. Russia have gone four home games without defeat and have won their last seven home World Cup qualifiers, though before this tournament, they hadn't played once since 2013. 

Croatia made it to the last 16 at Euro 2020 but only won one of their four games. They top this group on six points, not bad after losing their first game 1-0 in Slovenia. Croatia then had two home wins, beating Cyprus 1-0 and then Malta 3-0, though it took them until the 62nd minute to score their first goal. The big problem that Croatia have is their away form. Three of their last five away World Cup qualifiers have been lost and they failed to score in four of those. Only two away wins have been recorded since 2019 and the tenative suggestion here is for a small wager on Russia to win and a side bet on under 2.5 goals.