Oddshark
Tite and his Brazil side are set to put the final tweaks to their FIFA World Cup preparations as they face off against Croatia this coming Sunday (3 June) at Liverpool’s Anfield home. After initially looking like they would not qualify for the World Cup under predecessor Dunga, Tite has not only steadied the ship but turned the 2002 World Cup winners into one of the strongest contenders in the competition, which starts on 14 June.
Kicking off
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Who will win you money?
As one of the strongest sides on paper it would look like a good idea to bet on Brazil right now. The South American nation has been a rock of consistency under Tite, and in 19 games the coach’s record stands at 19 games, 15 wins, three draws and a solitary defeat.
It is close to a year since the Brazilians tasted defeat, in a friendly against Argentina last June, and in all honesty, they don’t look like slipping up against this Croatian outfit. Since that reverse 12 months ago Brazil have played nine games, winning six and drawing three and their confidence is sky high.
Looking at a simple outcome of this game, either Brazil win, Croatia win or draw, it is Brazil who are the clear favourites to pick up the win in Liverpool on Sunday. Tite’s side are priced at a lowly 1.50 to come away victorious, while Croatia have been priced at 7.50 to beat Brazil, according to Oddsshark.
Croatia have been in encouraging form themselves recently, having lost just once in their last six games. The European side have been drawn in Group D of the World Cup, alongside Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria, and will be confident of making it out of the group and into the knock-out stages.
They did, however, suffer a 2-0 defeat to Peru, a side which cannot even begin to match Brazil in terms of technical quality. You can back Brazil to win this friendly by a 2-0 scoreline at 6.50, or alternatively, Brazil to win this match by a two-goal margin is priced at 4.33.
The toughest task is, of course, trying to predict the exact score of any given match, but given Brazil’s clear advantage in this contest perhaps a better way to go would be backing them to be leading at half-time. You can back Brazil to be winning at both half-time and full time at 2.25.
Meanwhile, for the game to be tied at the interval and Brazil to win after 90 minutes, you can make money at 3.75. If you fancy Croatia to be leading at the break and the Brazilians to overturn the deficit then you can back such an outcome at 23.00.
Should you wish to play it safe, you can do so and back a draw at 3.80. Think there will still be goals in this one? Then you can back a score draw at 5.50, while a goalless draw is priced at 9.50.
There is more than one way to play safe, however, and you can go in for the “Double Chance” option. You can back either a Brazil win or a draw at 1.10, a Croatia win or a draw at the extended price of 2.62, or you can back either side to win at 1.28.
Yet whilst the Croatians may not boast the same strength in depth as their South American adversaries, they nevertheless have creative playmakers capable of unlocking any defence. While they may not be the favourites to win the game they are still capable of scoring, and there could well be goals in this one.
You can back an outcome of over 2.5 goals in this contest at 1.95, while under 2.5 goals is at 1.85. Backing both teams to score is at 2.10, while a “No” to that question is at 1.66.
There will be no Neymar for Brazil in this one, meaning that Gabriel Jesus will be leading the line. You can back the Manchester City forward to score and Brazil to win 1-0 at a price of 13.00
Odds: Brazil (1.50), Croatia (7.50), draw (3.80)
