Croatia v Morocco: History points to play-off goals
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Croatia v Morocco betting odds, tips and predictions
The third-place play-off is the game that no team really wants to be involved in but Croatia and Morocco have the chance to end their impressive World Cup campaigns on a high.
The two teams are meeting for the second time in Qatar after both qualifying from the same group on their way to the semi-finals which ended in defeat.
Saturday’s match at the Khalifa International Stadium kicks off at 3pm and is live on the BBC and ITV.
Croatia look the call
Getting motivated for this game can be no easy task given the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup final.
While the rest of the footballing world is waiting eagerly for Argentina v France 24 hours later, these two sets of players must pick themselves up quickly from their midweek disappointment and go again.
They may be helped by the manner of their defeats at least, with both spared the emotional and physical hangover of losing in extra time or a penalty shoot-out.
Croatia were well beaten 3-0 by a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina before Morocco went down 2-0 against France despite a brave effort in the second half.
Former runners-up Croatia are perhaps more used to the big occasions, having reached the final four years ago, and have the benefit of an extra day to prepare for this fixture.
Croatia dominated possession during a goalless draw in the opening round of group matches and are likely to do so again.
Against weary opponents that could prove decisive this time, we’re backing them to win in 90 minutes at 27/20 in the Croatia v Morocco betting odds.
Saiss is everything for Morocco
Morocco’s defence was instrumental in them becoming the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Prior to facing France, the only goal they had conceded was an own goal in a 2-1 win against Canada.
Coach Walid Regragui admitted his players were on their “last legs” for the semi-final though and the decision to name captain Romain Saiss and Nayef Aguerd in the starting line-up backfired.
West Ham defender Aguerd, who had been struggling with a thigh injury, was replaced by Achraf Dari after the warm-up, while Saiss limped off 20 minutes into the tie.
“Until the last minute we weren’t sure, we waited until the last minute to see if Romain could play,” said Regragui. “He is such an important player for us, our captain.
“Nayef was recovering from flu and wanted to play as well, I thought it was best to play with three defenders so they didn’t have too much to run at.
“We made a lot of mistakes and then Romain had to go off and we changed to a four-man defence and actually played better.
“I have no regrets about the decision. Nayef’s absence was difficult and all of these little things meant we got off to quite a poor start, you learn from your mistakes, I do as well. If all our squad was fit we could have caused them even more problems.
“At a World Cup, this was one step too far, not in terms of quality or tactics but physically, we had too many players at 60-70 per cent.”
That adds to our belief that Croatia can dominate this game and 15/4 for them to win by more than one goal is added to our Croatia v Morocco betting tips.
Go for goals with pressure off
History suggests this could be an entertaining game with the third-place play-off traditional featuring plenty of goals.
In the last 10 editions there have been 38 goals scored in normal time and over 2.5 goals paid out in all of them until four years ago when England lost 2-0 to Belgium.
The goalless draw earlier in the tournament might suggest otherwise but with the pressure off, this fixture will have a very different feel and over 2.5 goals appeals at 17/20 in the Croatia v Morocco betting odds.
Early goals are a feature of this game too with six of the last seven having a goal inside the first 20 minutes and the deadlock was broken in the first 10 minutes in four of them.
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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
