Italy v Croatia: Italians hopeful of ending Croatia hoodoo

An opening draw against reigning champions Spain was an encouraging result for Italy, but it leaves them in need of victory at 6/5 against a Croatia team they have beaten only once.

Indeed, Croatia have been triumphant in the past two encounters against the Italians, and are 12/5 to claim another success on the back of a 3-1 win over Ireland.

There have been two draws in the six meetings of the sides too, and as that result wouldn’t be disastrous for either team here, it may see some support at 11/5.

The respective form of either side heading into the tournament would seem to suggest that Croatia may extend their fruitful run against the Italians however.

Croatia have lost just one of their last five matches, whilst Italy have been defeated on three occasions in the same span, failing to score in each of those defeats.

With that in mind, some may opt to back Croatia to keep a clean sheet at 5/2, or to win the game without conceding at a bigger 7/2.

However, that price should be approached with caution, in light of the fact that Slaven Bilic’s men have been breached in their last four outings.

Therefore, both teams scoring in the match looks a possibility, and it is a massive 7/1 that Croatia triumph in a fixture in which either side finds the net, whilst Italy are 3/1 to win a game they concede in.

It is 10/3 about the score draw, or you can alternatively back the Croats to win or draw a game featuring three or more strikes at 3/1.

Both sides possess an abundance of potential scorers in the match, so attention should be paid to wincast markets in light of this.

Nikica Jelavic bagged in Croatia’s victory over Ireland, and is 9/2 to score in another national success on Wednesday night.

For Italy meanwhile, Antonio Di Natale finished coolly after coming off the bench against Spain, and likely to be afforded a start ahead of Mario Balotelli, is 3/1 to notch in an Italian win.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.