FIFA World Cup 3rd Place Play-off - Croatia v Morocco

 

The 2022 FIFA World Cup coming to an end, what an exciting year with many underdogs smashing the favorite yet again making the bookies mega-rich once more. Angela again coming to the rescue if you are willing to listen to the Queen of Hearts in football in this 3rd place play-off game between Croatia and Morocco.

 

Croatia was defeated by Argentina by class and not by luck, the 0-3 defeats had destroyed Croatian morale completely, and yet again this is the 3rd time they had failed to qualify for the final in their history.

 

Morocco was defeated by France 0-2, however, the way these Moroccan played throughout the tournament had captured many fans and they were very unfortunate not to beat France. Morocco came very close to scoring against France, only being denied because of the lack of quality compared to France.

 

Odds Analysis:

Asian Handicap opened on Croatia at -0.25, clearly overpriced to me since Croatia ranks 12th against Morocco ranks 22nd in FIFA World ranking given the qualities of Croatia against a massive underdog.

 

Morocco's odds on Asian Handicap (+0.25) clearly dropping since their cool display against France. And back in the Group stage, Morocco already managed to draw 0-0 against Croatia and prevented a goal. This game clearly going to be for Morocco in my opinion.

 

Angela's Prediction:

 

Morocco - AH (+0.5) or X2

 

For higher returns, take a bet on Morocco to Qualify (or finish 3rd place). This market is a lot better than full-time 90 mins as it is included extra time and penalties!

FIFA World Cup - 2022 - World Cup Final Stage Argentina VS Croatia

 

 

Analysis:

Argentina

Angel Di Maria featured from the bench in Argentina's semi-final win over the Netherlands and might return to the starting XI here.

 

Lionel Scaloni changed to a 3-5-2 for Friday's penalty shootout success and may revert to a more familiar 4-3-3, with Di Maria and Julian Alvarez flanking Lionel Messi. Full-backs Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna are suspended, with Nicolas Tagliafico set to deputise for the latter.

 

Argentina were taken to penalties late on by the Netherlands on Friday night as they threw away a two-goal lead. Nevertheless, they held their nerve to book a semi-final spot against Croatia.

 

Croatia

Josip Stanisic remains a doubt for Croatia, but is their only injury concern for Tuesday's semi-final. Zlatko Dalic may reward Bruno Petkovic with a starting spot after he scored from the bench late on against Brazil to take that quarter-final tie to penalties.

 

Zlatko Dalic's side, conversely, scored an equaliser deep into extra time to take their tie with Brazil to a penalty shootout. They have won their four penalty shootouts at a World Cup, so will look to adopt a similar conservative approach to frustrate Argentina.

 

Prediction:

Croatia are not to be underestimated, but with Lionel Messi in the ranks, Argentina will certainly fancy their chances of reaching the 2022 World Cup final.

 

 

FIFA World Cup Last 16th – Croatia vs Japan

 

 

Analysis:

FIFA World Cup Last 16th in the earlier kick off on Monday 5th December, Angie has expected a game that we could see it may go into extra time. Plenty of freak results from the group stage had brought a lot of surprises and caught most punters off guard, worldwide bookies are already profiting from the margin they have gained just on the group stage alone. Angie is hoping to land you a 4th win in a row with free tips today, so mark my word from the queen of hearts of football!

 

Japan – the Blue Samurai have been very resilient from their Group stage so far and pulled off a surprise result. Having beaten Germany and Spain 2-1, their confidence and self-belief is on a high, however, a shock loss to Costa Rica 0-1 is a concern to me when the pressure is on the Japanese.

 

Croatia - a very disappointing show in this world cup so far, they had only managed one win, a 4-1 over Canada, and came from behind in the early stage. Then the Croatian drew blank against Morocco and Belgium did not convince me a bit from the former 3rd place finished back in the 2018 World Cup. Players are also aging and this is a weakness that the Japanese could exploit.

 

Odds Analysis

Japan ranks 24th in the FIFA World Ranking, whilst Croatia ranks 12th. Worldwide bookies put Croatia as the favorite with Asian Handicap at -0.5, however, the odds already drifting away on Croatia showing most punters believe Japan could hold on for a draw in the last 16th. Japan 1X shows a decent value at the price of around 1.83 on average.

 

Asian Goal Line opens at 2.25 goals, bookies neither keen to see too many goals. With so many 0-0 results in Group games, surely not another one. I expect a 1-1 draw perhaps with Both Team To Score at odds of 2.08 Pinnacle seems a decent investment option.

 

Head to Head

 

Last 2 meetings, both games ended up with under 2.5 goals.

 

Verdict:

 

First Choice: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE