World Cup
Brazil vs Croatia prediction
9 Dec @ 15:00
Brazil have waltzed into the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup but without really being tested so far.
Tite’s side were 4-0 up after 36 minutes in their second round match and progressing from a group including Switzerland, Serbia and Cameroon. The 4-1 win over South Korea came after the stars had a week off as the manager was allowed to rotate his whole lineup for their final group game, whilst South Korea had just two days off following their stoppage-time win over Portugal to progress. As discussed in our tip for that game, we were expecting a big Brazil win.
Croatia needed penalties to beat Japan in the last round meaning they have already played an additional 30 minutes in the knockout rounds, and arguably an additional 90 minutes in the group stage as there was little room for rest having come through Group F as runners-up to Morocco. Notably, they did only concede one goal.
Bear that in mind as this Croatian team will be a lot more compact versus Brazil than what South Korea were, somewhat reminiscent of Switzerland in the group stage I would guess, where the five-time world champions won 1-0 courtesy of a late Casemiro strike.
Interestingly, Brazil haven’t beaten a European nation in the knockout stages since the 2002 World Cup final – eliminated in the previous four editions to France, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium respectively. And even if the South Americans do progress from this tie, I still don’t think they will be lifting the trophy next Sunday.
Expect Croatia to sit back and frustrate this Brazil team for 90 minutes and possibly extra time. I think they offer more of an attacking threat than what Serbia and Switzerland too in their defensive displays. Give them a one-and-a-half goal headstart and I think that’s the best value from this game.
Value bet: Croatia to win +1.5 goals is 4/5 with BetFred