UEFA Nations League: Croatia and Denmark Battle for A1 Supremacy

Croatia vs Denmark

The UEFA Nations League is back with a bang this week with a Group A1 clash at Maksimir on Thursday, when the top two – Croatia and Denmark – come face to face for the second time in three months. 

With four games played, Denmark sit at the top of Group A1 on nine points, while second-placed Croatia can leapfrog them with a win on Thursday. When the two teams met in Copenhagen in June, the Croats inflicted the Danes’ only defeat so far, and with seven points in the bag, they will go top if they can complete the double on home soil.

The hosts come into the game on the back of an impressive victory over France, almost four years to the day since they last met in the World Cup final. Meanwhile, Denmark comfortably beat Austria to hold on to top spot.

But the latest UEFA Nations League 2022 betting odds have Croatia as the favourites to win Group A1 at a price of 1.70, with Denmark at 2.00, and the two-horse race means Austria can be backed at a whopping 81.00.

Talking Points

Croatia’s star-studded midfield as good as ever

The Golden Generation of Croatia may be slightly over the hill, but one or two members of the team that reached the World Cup 2018 final are still strutting their stuff, and quite magnificently.

Real Madrid’s Luka Modric is still the general in midfield and at 37 years of age, he shows no sign of slowing down. His ease on the ball and superb range of passing makes him the perfect creative midfielder and he still possesses one of the best shots in the business. And he scored the penalty which gave Croatia a 1-0 win over world champions France last time out.

With Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic, at 28 years of age, and Inter Milan’s dominating midfielder Marcelo Brozovic at 29, this is a midfield with stacks of experience and bucket loads of quality. And then there’s Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic, who scored the only goal of the game when Croatia plundered three points from Copenhagen, stopping a Danish run of six home wins on the bounce in the process. 

Torino advanced midfielder Nikola Vlasic will also be pushing for a start and he may operate up front, with Spurs’ Ivan Perisic and Dinamo Zagreb’s Mislav Orsic occupying the wide positions.

Head coach Zlatko Dalic has the tools at his disposal to hurt Denmark again; now it is up to his players to take their chance.

Eriksen is making Denmark tick again

Just as Croatia have Modric to bring some magic to their team, Denmark have Christian Eriksen back, a sight everyone in football is delighted to see after his dramatic collapse on the field in a Euro 2020 clash against Finland. He suffered a cardiac arrest but, thankfully, has made a full recovery over the past 12 months.

After a half season getting up to speed with Brentford, Eriksen has settled seamlessly into a top-four battle with his new club Manchester United and, for both club and country, he provides an elegance of play combined with a brilliant delivery which creates chance after chance for the strikers. 

Sevilla’s forward Kasper Dolberg is likely to lead the line with Brentford striker Mikkel Damsgaard also set to feature at some stage. Alongside Eriksen, Spurs midfielder Pierre Emile Hjolberg will do a lot of the legwork and there will be familiar faces in defence. AC Milan’s Simon Kjaer is a force to be reckoned with while Leeds defender Rasmus Kristensen also provides a threat going forward. 

And keeper Kasper Schmeichel, now at Nice, will be the last line of defence. His former team Leicester City are missing him badly; the Foxes are rock bottom of the Premier League with just a single point.    

Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand managed to pick his players up from defeat to Croatia as they beat Austria 2-0 and, apart from their setback in June, Denmark’s UEFA Nations League 2022 results have been pretty much perfect. They will be keen to keep their hosts in their place on Thursday.   

History

These two nations have been right at the top of the game in modern history. Croatia came so close to glory in 2018, losing in the World Cup final to France, while Denmark were European Champions in 1992, when Kasper Schmeichel’s dad, Peter, was the goalkeeper. 

In four meetings between these two sides Denmark are yet to have any luck. Croatia have won all four, scoring nine goals and conceding three. But in terms of recent form, Denmark have the edge with three wins and a defeat, compared to Croatia’s two wins, one draw and a defeat.   

Betting Tip

With Croatia marginal favourites at SBOTOP odds of 2.41 and Denmark at 2.73 we have a real battle on here. The Draw is at 3.06 and I can see the Danes getting the result they need to hold on to top spot. We’re expecting a battle of attrition and a low-scoring game with Under 2.50 goals at a price of 1.61; the correct score line of 1-1 is relatively low in price and that’s where I’m heading.

 

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