Croatia vs Albania predictions: Wasteful Croatians can make amends
- Six match Croatian unbeaten run came to an end in opening Group B clash
- Albania scored fastest ever European Championship goal in Italy defeat
- Recommended bet: Croatia/Croatia at half-time/full-time
Both Croatia and Albania are looking for their first points in Group B, after tasting losses in their first games of the tournament.
The Croats were beaten 3-0 by Spain in a match in which they missed a penalty and then had the converted rebound disallowed, while Albania’s early lead was quickly wiped out by an Italian side that won 2-1.
Team news
Croatia looked leaky in defence, bringing into question manager Zlatko Dalic’s decision to employ Josko Gvardiol at left-back, rather than the central defensive role in which he excelled at the 2022 World Cup.
Borna Sosa could come in on the left and see Gvardiol moved centrally, while Marcelo Brozovic's midfield place is under threat, with Luka Sucic and Mario Pasalic potential replacements.
The Albania forward Jasir Asana is a doubt with an ankle injury.
The stats
Croatia have now lost three of their last five competitive matches, winning twice.
Albania’s friendly wins over Liechtenstein and Azerbaijan are their only victories from their last seven games.
Croatia have not lost consecutive games at an international tournament since Euro 96.
Prediction
Though Croatia suffered a heavy defeat against Spain, they have reason to be optimistic as they enter this crucial clash with Albania.
Dalic’s team managed to have slightly more possession than their opponents and enjoyed 16 shots compared to Spain’s 11.
Croatia came close on several occasions, with Bruno Petkovic missing a penalty and then seeing his conversion from the rebound, ruled out for encroachment.
If they can be more clinical and cut out their defensive errors, they can be confident of picking up a win, that will see them go into their final group game against Italy with a chance of making the knockout stages.
Croatia only have to look at Italy’s match against Albania to see what might happen if they are once again so generous with their defending.
A wayward throw-in saw Nedim Bajrami convert with just 23 seconds on the clock and though the Albanians struggled to create chances, Rey Manaj came close to equalising towards the end of the game.
Albania only had 31.7% of the possession against Italy, which suggests that the Croats could dominate the ball to an even greater degree.
If Croatia can show more composure than was the case against Spain, they should win this one with some ease.
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