Euro 2024: Croatia v Albania - Match Preview & Odds
As we look ahead to this key fixture, here at betting.bet you’ll find the latest team news, match insights and expert betting tips as well as the best pre-match odds and offers
Croatia and Albania meet in a must-win match on Wednesday as the two nations face off in their second Euro 2024 group stage fixture. Both teams lost their opening matches in Group B and the losers on Wednesday will face a near-impossible chance of progressing to the knockout stage. As we look ahead to this key fixture, here at betting.bet you’ll find the latest team news, match insights and expert betting tips as well as the best pre-match odds and offers from our partners at Betfred.
Opening Day Defeats
Croatia were soundly beaten by Spain on the opening weekend as last year’s UEFA Nations League finalists lost 3-0 on Saturday. All three Spanish goals came in the first half and were scored by Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal.
However, the match result was not a fair representation of the match witnessed in Berlin. Croatia actually had more shots on goal than Spain and became the first side since 2008 to have the majority of the possession in a competitive international against Spain. Croatia have not lost back-to-back matches in a major international tournament since Euro ‘96.
Albania scored the fastest goal so far in this summer’s European Championships but they were unable to hold onto their shock lead against holders Italy. Nedim Bajrami scored after just 23 seconds but the Azzurri hit back with two goals in five minutes to turn the game on its head. Alessandro Bastoni scored on 11 minutes before Nicolo Barella scored what turned out to be the match winner with just 16 minutes on the clock.
Team News
Nikola Vlasic was an unused substitute for Croatia against Spain and the Torino midfielder has since withdrawn from the Croatian squad due to an ongoing muscle injury. Ajax left-back Borna Sosa could be selected in Croatia’s starting XI with Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol moving into central defence.
Both Luka Sucic and Mario Pasalic impressed off the bench on Saturday and are pushing for a starting berth on Wednesday. The Croatian duo replaced Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic against Spain but Marcelo Brozovic is most likely to make way should either be given the nod against Albania.
Jasir Asani was replaced during the second-half of Albania’s defeat to Italy and the 29-year-old is a major fitness doubt ahead of Wednesday’s key Group B fixture. Arber Hoxha replaced Asani against Italy and could be selected from the start on Wednesday. Ironically, Arber Hoxha currently plays his club football in Croatia for Dinamo Zagreb.
Predicted Line Ups
Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa, Modric, Sucic, Kovacic, Majer, Budimir, Kramaric
Albania: Strakosha, Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj, Asllani, Ramadani, Laci, Bajrami, Hoxha, Broja
Betting Tips
Having tipped Albania as potential dark horses before the start of Euro 2024, it would not be a huge surprise to see them claim all three points in Hamburg. However, Croatia can take real encouragement from their second-half performance against Spain and may prove too strong for Albania in this must-win fixture. Croatia are good value for the win at 1/2.
Croatia failed to score in their first fixture whilst Albania did not register a single shot on target after their early opener against Italy. Neither of these shot-shy nations are blessed with a real out-and-out goalscorer which gives plenty of appeal to under 2.5 match goals at 4/5.
To boost your odds, you could combine each of the recommended bets mentioned above. Croatia to win and under 2.5 match goals will prove popular at 21/10.
Match Odds
| Croatia | Draw | Albania |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | 16/5 | 13/2 |
Predicted Match Result: Croatia 1-0 Albania (9/2)
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