Prediction and odds: Croatia (8/1) vs Brazil (4/11)

We’re backing Brazil/Brazil (HT/FT) at 21/20

When: Friday, 9th December 2022 – 3pm KO (GMT)

Where: Education City Stadium

Croatia and Brazil will collide tomorrow with the winner booking their place in the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Croatia

The 2018 finalists Croatia have been seen as a squad full of veterans, many of which are expected to make their final appearance at the World Cup this year. In equal measure, though, it’s a team that has plenty of talent, and plenty of experience to go alongside it. When you add those two things together, as many of us know in tournament football, it can add up to quite the surge of momentum.

The 0-0 draw against Morocco didn’t look great at the time but now that the side from North Africa have also made it to the last eight, it’s a bit more understandable. A thumping win over Canada positioned them nicely for a tense meeting with Belgium that they got through with another goalless draw, and then against Japan, they took it all the way to penalties before their experience was able to shine through.

Brazil

Brazil are five-time winners of the World Cup but heading into this year, it’s been 20 years since they were last able to lift that famous trophy. They’ve had some outstanding players come and go ever since but this time around, it feels a bit different. There’s a focus within the squad that hasn’t been there for a while, and if that doesn’t inspire confidence within their loyal fanbase, nothing will.

The 2-0 win over Serbia was exactly what they needed to get off to a comfortable start, and the 1-0 result against Switzerland eased any lingering concerns ahead of the Cameroon game – which they lost with a rotated starting XI. When facing South Korea, however, they were on fire in every way imaginable as they fired themselves to a 4-1 win that really helped announce their arrival to the knockouts.

Conclusion

This has all the potential in the world to mark a really fun clash of styles between two sturdy foes from Europe and South America, respectively. Brazil are going to be aggressive and really come at a Croatia side that they know have 30 minutes of extra wear and tear in them, whereas the underdogs will try and do what they’ve done to many, many other nations – wear them down and eventually secure a victory after the 90 minutes have concluded.

Unfortunately for Modric and company, we aren’t so sure that’s going to fly this time around. We think Brazil will be able to edge themselves into the lead in the first half and from there, they’ll score another in the second half, registering a 2-0 win to book a date with either the Netherlands or their old rivals Argentina in the semis.

Our tips (all taken from bet365): Brazil/Brazil (HT/FT) at 21/20 + under 2.5 goals at 1/1

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