Croatia vs Scotland: Will the Croats make the playoffs?

In the third leg of the Euro 2020 group stage, Croatia will face Scotland. A battle for third place in Group D and a draw will not satisfy anyone, but a win could push one of the teams into the play-offs.

At the time of writing, the Group A standings are clear. Italy are first, Wales second and Switzerland third with four points and a -1 goal difference. The Croats now have one point and a -1 goal difference. That means that a win against Scotland would give the Checkered ones a clear lead over the Swiss, but they still need a win to do it. Besides, the Croats have a chance to play for the 2nd place in Group D, but they need to defeat the Scots by two goals or more, while the return leg between the Czechs and the English must be decided by a winner. It must be recalled that Croatia lost to England in the first leg of UEFA EURO 2020, with the Checkered ones drawing against the Czechs in the second leg.

The situation for the Scots is worse than for the Croatians, as they are not satisfied with simply beating Croatia, they need to win by two goals or more. That said, the Scots have not scored once so far at UEFA EURO 2020, losing to the Czechs 0-2 and sitting out a 0-0 draw with England. Against England, the Scots gave up the initiative, only 40% possession, and only one shot on target on 11 attempts. Against the Czechs, the Scottish team played more aggressively, possessing the ball 56% of the game time, shooting 19 times towards goal and hitting the bar five times.

Please note that all matches between the Scots and the Croats have ended with Total Under 2.5. Given the status of the upcoming game and the importance of the result, there is little belief that the low performance in this pairing will be interrupted. As for the outcome, despite the fielding factor, we’re betting on a Croatian win. Here are the following bets: W1 for 2.34, Total Under (2.5) for 1.87, W1+Total Under (2.5) for 4.90.