Croatia v Czech Republic Betting Tips [18 June 2021]

Croatia and Czech Republic had contrasting fortunes in their opening matches in Group D at Euro 2020 and much will be at stake when they meet in the second round of matches. While Croatia lost narrowly to England, Czech Republic registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Scotland, and the two are now separated by three points. Croatia were a pale shadow of the team that eliminated England in the semis at the 2018 World Cup, but their decline has been visible over the years and an aging squad has been pointed out as one of the reasons. They have now failed to win any of their last three matches, losing the last two and failing to score in those two. They have never lost in their three matches against Czech Republic but both sides have scored in those matches, while they will be concerned about their defence too, having managed just two clean sheets in the last 17 matches.

Czech Republic will go into this game high in confidence after their solid performance and win over Scotland. Patrik Schick scored a brace, the second one a beauty, and he will be the man to trouble the Croatia back line in this game. The lanky forward also scored in Czech’s final warm up game and should be confident ahead of the Croatia game, especially after having a great season with Bayer Leverkusen. While the win over Scotland looks comfortable on paper, it was a close fight and Czech only edged their hosts by taking their chances. They now have two straight wins, having beaten Albania in their final warm up game before coming to the competition. They’ve however blown hot and cold, and against formidable opponents, they struggled. Earlier, Czech lost 1-0 and 4-0 to Wales and Italy respectively and could only draw 1-1 with Belgium.