Croatia – Bulgaria Predictions, Odds and Betting Tips – 29.03.2022

⚽ Croatia – Bulgaria Predictions

Croatia – Bulgaria Tips and Odds. March 29, 16:00 FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL.

Croatia – Bulgaria Preview

As Croatia’s preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup continues, manager Zlatko Dalić’s introduction of youth into his squad has been paying dividends of late as his side have now gone undefeated since Euro 2020 (W5, D3). Finishing top of their World Cup Qualification (WCQ) group saw Croatia book their spot in Qatar, whilst fast starts have been key to their recent success, with Croatia netting the opener eight times across their last ten matches.
The ‘Blazers’ are using this international window to acclimatise to conditions in the Gulf as both of their friendlies in this international window have been at Qatar’s Education City Stadium. Their 1-1 draw with Slovenia last time out may have fallen short of winning expectations, but it does mean Croatia have now lost just one of their last 17 fixtures vs nations ranked outside of FIFA’s top 50 (W10, D6). They’ll be the favourites to extend that streak against #71 ranked Bulgaria, a team they’ve lost to only once this century (W4, D2).
Playing in Qatar is the closest Bulgaria will get to their first World Cup appearance since 1998, as they finished only above Lithuania in their WCQ group this time around. This fixture will also be their second successive game at the Education City Stadium after losing 2-1 to Qatar last time out, where they conceded 2+ goals for the fifth time across their last six matches.
The ‘Lions’ have become prey when outside of their homeland, going 19 such games without a win (D8, L11) and failing to score in eight of their most recent 13 matches away from Bulgaria. March 2016 was actually the last time they won an international friendly outside of Bulgaria, while conceding in all six of their such matches since (D2, L4) shows where their vulnerabilities lie.
Players to watch: Croatia’s scorer vs Slovenia, Andrej Kramarić, has scored five of his last seven international goals after half-time, while Kiril Despodov has seen all four of his goals for Bulgaria serve as his side’s opener
Hot stat: There have been six goals scored between the 30th and 45th minute in Croatia’s last five friendlies.