Belgium v Croatia betting tips: Final friendly for England foes
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Preview and odds for Sunday’s match
Gareth Southgate and his England coaching staff will be interested observers as Belgium and Croatia complete their preparations for Euro 2020.
Croatia are England’s first opponents while Belgium may well stand in their way if the Three Lions are to win the continental tournament for the first time.
Sunday’s match is live on Sky Sports and kicks off at 7.45pm as we highlight a few potential Belgium v Croatia betting tips.
Belgium v Croatia match odds
Belgium are one of the leading contenders to win Euro 2020 and will hope to get back to winning ways in their final warm-up match.
Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard were both missing on Thursday night and Belgium lacked creativity as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Greece.
It remains to be seen what lessons Roberto Martinez has learnt but Belgium are still odds-on favourites for the win at 20/23 while the draw is 13/5 and Croatia are 3/1.
Croatia also had a disappointing result in midweek as they laboured to a 1-1 draw against Armenia so another score draw is available at 17/5, while under 2.5 goals is an option at evens.
Keeping clean sheets has been a problem for an ageing Croatia team and they have only managed two in 12 matches in the past year, with those coming against Cyprus and Malta.
That does not bode well here and Coral’s #YourCall offer of 16/1 for both teams to score in both halves and either team to win could have a chance in an open contest.
Belgium v Croatia head-to-head
The last meeting between these teams was in October 2013 but several players on duty that day could also feature this weekend.
Romelu Lukaku’s double set Belgium on their way to victory and they held on for a 2-1 win despite Niko Kranjcar giving Croatia hope late on.
That was the third time in the last four meetings that the game has been settled by a one-goal margin, with the other being a 1-1 draw.
Previous XI
Croatia: Livakovic, Vrsaljko, Barisic, Caleta-Car, Vida, Perisic, Brekalo, Modric, Brozovic, Vlasic, Kramaric.
Key battles
Lukaku is undoubtedly the dangerman for Belgium and only played the first 45 minutes against Greece before being replaced by Michy Batshuayi so could feature again here.
He ended a superb season in Serie A with three goals in as many games for champions Inter Milan and Coral offer 7/2 for Lukaku and Batshuayi both to score and Belgium to win.
Luka Modric will be the key man for Croatia, with controlling possession the best hope the visitors have of stopping the supply to Lukaku.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
