Croatia lost 1-0 to England at Wembley in their opening game, they had 51% possession, taking 8 shots with 2 in target, taking just 1 corner and picking up 3 yellow cards.
Czech Republic beat Scotland 2-0 in their opening game, they had 42% possession, having 10 shots with 7 on target, taking 6 corners and picking up no cards.
The referee for this game is Carlos Del Cerro (Spain), this season he has refereed 35 games, handing out 157 yellow cards and 9 red cards. An average of 4.49 yellow cards per game and 0.26 red cards per game. In his career so far he has refereed 228 games, awarding 1088 yellow cards and 50 red cards, an average of 4.77 yellow cards per game and 0.22 red cards per game.
Czech Republic couldn’t have hoped for a better opening game as they dealt with a tricky fixture against Scotland away from home in a very professional way and in the end we’re comfortable winners. They always carry a threat from set pieces and they continually caused Scotland problems, with 7 shots finding the target. There is no doubt Croatia are the better footballing side I this game, but the Czechs will again prove difficult to beat as they are defensively organised and will look to get balls in the box to create aerial battles, which is one area they should have the edge. Croatia will control possession and really can’t afford to lose this game if they are going to qualify for the knockout stages. It’s clear that Croatia aren’t the same side that ended England’s world Cup run at the semi-final stage 3 years ago, but they still carry a threat going forward and we fancy them to edge out the Czech Republic here by a 2-1 score line.
