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Looking at the list of fixtures for the Round of 16 at Euro 2016, a couple of fixtures catch the eye, and Croatia versus Portugal is definitely one of them. They play each other on June 25 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens in the final match of the day, after Switzerland face Poland and Wales take on Northern Ireland.
Croatia confounded expectations by winning Group D, ahead of Spain, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Even though a draw would have done them fine against Spain, Croatia came from behind and gave the defending champions a lesson in football, all while fielding a weakened side. It was an amazing performance, and they are undefeated in the competition so far, after beating Turkey, drawing with the Czechs and then defeating Spain in the last game of the group. Croatia scored 5 goals and conceded 3 during the group stages, with Ivan Perisic top scoring with 2 goals.
Portugal qualified the hard way through Group F, drawing all three games, but that really doesn’t tell the full story. Their opening 1-1 draw with Iceland was a tight affair, but then they outplayed Austria, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty. But then they played in the best game of Euro 2016 so far, coming from behind three times to draw with Hungary. It was an incredible game and showed the best and worst of Portugal at the same time. Croatia scored 4 and conceded four in the group stages, with Nani and Ronaldo scoring two apiece.
Portugal and Croatia have faced each other 3 times, with Portugal winning all 3 games. Their last meeting was in 2013 friendly, which Portugal won 1-0. Their only competitive game was in Euro ’96, which Portugal won 3-0.
Croatia vs Portugal Match Betting Odds:
Croatia: 2.5, 6/4, +150
Portugal: 3.4, 12/5, +240
Draw: 3.0, 2/1, +200
Croatia vs Portugal Match Betting Tips:
We were so close with out 10/1 tip of Hungary to defy the odds against Portugal on Wednesday, and there’s one reason for that – Portugal are just wonderfully inconsistent and can’t seem to put a great performance together for 90 minutes. Croatia done a number on Spain, and their midfield is just playing incredible football. They’re going to take the game to Portugal, and I’m surprised to see Croatia at such a huge price after their performance in the final game of Group D. Croatia to win is the definite selection here, because they’re playing well, and Portugal have yet to win at Euro 2016. Plus, if Portugal struggled to score against Iceland and Austria, how are they going to cope against one of the best defences in Europe?
Croatia vs Portugal Prop Bets:
Portugal did us a huge favour against Hungary, getting corner after corner, which helped us get over the 10.5 with no problem and I can see the same happening here. Both sides love getting the ball down the wings, so over 10.5 corners will not be a problem at all.
