Sharbini opened the lead in 7th minute, Kovacic added second goal in 15th, while Mandzukic and Kramaric were goalscorers in the second half. However, more important to that, is that the Croats have won over Norway 5:1 back in March, as the team detached from the third position to four points now and are much closer now to obtaining the direct ticket. Midfielder Luka Modric is out due to already long term injury from Real madrid, so Milan Badelj could take his place this time. Domagoj Vida will probably be in the center of defense together with Vedran Corluka, while coach Niko Kovac anyway isn’t expected to mix a lot his starting eleven.
Italy, on the other side, can’t feel completely safe regarding their direct qualification to the Euro 2016, especially not since the team had a 1:1 draw at home against Croatia, followed by a only 2:2 draw on the road against Bulgaria back in March this year.
After that match, they only had a friendly game against England, also in March, ending it with a 1:1 result, even though it could be said that their visitors deserved something more out of the game. Anyhow, Italy is now second at the table, with two points less than Croatia and two more than Norway, so the team surely can’t afford to lose this one – on contrary – they are surely the ones who need a victory more in this situation. Defender Giorgio Chiellini is still suffering from calf injury, so Astori, Bonucci and Ranocchia should be fielded up in a three man defense. Andrea Pirlo maybe will miss out the starting position here, with Marco Verratti probably taking his place from the off.
This is expected to be very close game, with draw taking all the chances. However, Italians will have to attack a bit more here, making the game more open sooner or later, so I believe the right choice is going with both team scoring at least once, as the chances surely look like better than 50%.
Bet: Both teams to score @ 2.10
