Scotland vs Croatia prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League A betting tips on match 2024-11-14 19:45.
[p]Matchday five of this UEFA Nations League (UNL) cycle could be fatal for Scotland in League A, as anything but a win leaves them at risk of an immediate relegation back to the second-tier. The step up has proved a bridge too far for Steve Clarke’s men (D1, L3), with concern remaining on a wider scale given that they’ve now won just one of their last 16 matches (D5, L10), with that sole success coming in a friendly against Gibraltar![/p]
[p]That streak includes ten competitive outings without a win (D4, L6), including a 2-1 defeat against upcoming opponents Croatia. That was one of two instances in which Scotland have lost in this UNL cycle after scoring first, so even if the Tartan Army take the lead here it is far from guaranteed that they’ll end a six-match winless run on home soil (D3, L3).[/p]
[p]It’s a vastly different situation for Croatia, who’ve recovered well from a disappointing group stage exit at Euro 2024 to sit on the verge of qualification for the knockout stages (W2, D1, L1). One more win will be enough for them to book their place in the quarter-finals, and that’s despite throwing away a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw with Poland in their last UNL fixture.[/p]
[p]Runners up in the previous cycle of this competition, the League A ever-presents will need to improve their UNL away form to make that happen as they’ve won just four of their 11 such games (D1, L6). Confidence that they can achieve that will be boosted by a two-match H2H winning streak, the first of which came at Hampden Park in the group stage of Euro 2020.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay opened the scoring inside the first 25 minutes for club side Napoli against Inter Milan at the weekend, just as he’s done on two of his last three scoring appearances for his national side. Lining up in a similar attacking midfield role for Croatia could be Andrej Kramarić, who has been on the losing side just once when scoring for his country (W22, D5), and netted the winner in October’s reverse fixture.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Six of Scotland’s last eight matches have seen both teams score, while Croatia mirror that record in their last eight outings.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]