Back Croatia to make Swedes of Ibra and company
Slaven Bilic’s men have an impressive record on home soil and should be backed for two goals and a win against an occasionally sloppy Swedish defence.
Croatia and Sweden continue their respective preparations for Euro 2012 this evening as they lock horns in a friendly in Zagreb.
Luka Modric and company are rated as 21/20 favourites in bwin’s 3Way football betting market for the match and it is easy to see why they have been given such a short price.
It is to the great credit of boss Slaven Bilic that you have to go back to September 2008 to find Croatia’s last defeat at home – a 4-1 thrashing by England in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Since then, the Croats have enjoyed a fine run of form with 11 wins and three draws in 14 games in front of their own fans, scoring an impressive 33 goals at an average of just over two per game.
| World Cup Qualifiers - European Zone - Group A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia win | £25.60 | (7/25) | ||
| Draw | £95.00 | (15/4) | ||
| Scotland win | £180.00 | (8/1) | ||
Backing Croatia to score exactly two goals against Sweden at 27/10 is one tip to watch, then, with returns of £92.50 for anyone successfully utilising the free £25 bet for joining bwin.com on this bet.
Sweden have also shipped exactly one goal in the first half of three of their last four internationals, making odds of 33/20 on Croatia scoring exactly one goal prior to the interval of this encounter a worthy wager.
Confidence should be high among Bilic’s men too, given the relative frailties of the Swedish backline.
They have conceded in four of their last five international matches and could well fall foul of a Croatia team that easily dispatched Turkey 3-0 in Istanbul last year en route to a two-legged play-off victory which secured their place at Euro 2012.
Sweden have also shipped exactly one goal in the first half of three of their last four internationals, making odds of 33/20 on Croatia scoring exactly one goal prior to the interval of this encounter a worthy wager.
However, with star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic taking advantage of Silvio Berlusconi’s private jet to arrive at the game in comfort, the visitors could be a worth bet for at least one goal at 11/20.
And if you want to back the Swedes to score an impressive away victory, they are available at 29/10, with the draw priced up at 21/10.
But with Croatia conceding an average of 0.5 goals a game at home, perhaps the best potential tip to follow is a win for the Balkans nation with over 2.5 combined goals scored at tempting odds of 11/4.
New customers can register here to claim a free £25 bet or click here to see all our international friendly odds.
Follow us on Twitter @bwinbetting