International Friendly - Croatia VS North Macedonia Prediction

International Friendly - Croatia VS North Macedonia
Match Time: 04-06-2024 01:00 Tuesday (GMT+8)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Team Analysis
Croatia, having reached the World Cup semi-finals twice in a row, displayed a credible performance in their 2024 Euro qualifying group, securing the second-place finish. They secured their spot in Europe's biggest tournament for national sides even though trailing at the top position. Their strong provisional squad for Euro 2024 and their recent successful streak of three wins and a draw from the last four competitions reflects their high spirits for the upcoming matches. They demonstrated their offensive prowess by scoring four goals against Egypt in a March international friendly competition.

North Macedonia, on the contrary, faces a different fate. They will not be participating in the Euro this summer due to their poor performance in their respective qualifying group, marking second from the bottom with four losses in eight matches. The team led by Blagoja Milevski faced tough competition against formidable teams like England, Italy, and Ukraine. Recently they have been struggling, being winless in four consecutive matches across different competitions. Their poor form was visible in their last defeat at Montenegro during an exhibition in March, along with losing six of the last seven away games across all competitions.

Odds Analysis
Looking at the odds, Croatia, who has been in strong form, is expected to take the lead by the half time and eventually win the match, with the odds standing at 1.95. Taking into account that North Macedonia has had four out of six defeats by no less than a two-goal margin, this prediction seems quite plausible.

An alternative perspective leans towards a match with less than 2.5 goals, also at the odds of 1.95. This is influenced by the historical trend where five of the last seven Croatian exhibitions ended with fewer than three goals. A similar trend was observed in North Macedonia’s previous nine away friendly matches. Looking at the five previous head-to-head clashes between these two teams, only two matches had three or more goals scored. Hence, there's a significant probability of this encounter seeing less than 2.5 goals.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals