Croatia vs Belgium: Goals could flow in heavyweight duel

Croatia top the group with four points after an impressive comeback victory against Canada, while Belgium’s shock 2-0 defeat by Morocco means they must beat the 2018 runners-up to be assured of a place in the last 16, but a draw is likely to see them eliminated.

There is very little to choose between the teams, with Belgium the slightest of favourites at 8/5 to beat the Croats, who are 17/10, while a draw is 9/4.

Goals could be on cards

The Red Devils were outplayed by Canada despite a 1-0 victory and struggled to create chances against the Moroccans, who are second in the table with four points like Croatia.

Head coach Roberto Martinez had few answers after Sunday’s defeat, saying: “We lack that joy. It may be due to the weight we’re carrying on our shoulders. We have to analyse the situation.”

Asked about the failure to create clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, Martinez said: “That’s more a mindset, I don’t think it’s a lack of quality. We were better on the ball than we were against Canada, we got in beneficial positions but that link-up was missing. We couldn’t find that spare man. I think we have played with a fear of losing.”

Thursday’s opponents Croatia exploded into life once Alphonso Davies had put the Canadians in front with a superb header as Andrej Kramaric bounced back from having an effort flagged for offside by scoring twice in a 4-1 win.

Belgium have scored just once so far and injury-hit Romelu Lukaku made little impact as a substitute with 10 minutes remaining, but the “fear of losing” will no longer be in the minds of the 2018 semi-finalists, who must throw caution to the wind if they are to reach the knockout stage for which they are priced at 3/1.

For the first of our Croatia vs Belgium betting tips, we’ll go with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals at 5/4 in the World Cup odds as an exciting game looks in prospect, especially if an early goal is scored.

Get onside with Kramaric and Batshuayi

Kramaric was unstoppable against the Canadians and is likely to be playing on the right of a front three led by Marko Livaja once more for Thursday’s crucial game.

Michy Batshuayi scored Belgium’s winner against Canada and has had four shots in his two games, two of which have been on target.

The Fenerbahce striker is expected to start on Thursday despite Lukaku coming on in the closing stages and we go 11/5 on Batshuayi and Kramaric having at least one shot on target and both teams to score as one of our Croatia vs Belgium betting tips.

Kramaric is 21/10 to get on the scoresheet again, while Kevin De Bruyne could take his frustration out of the Croats by scoring at 13/5 in the World Cup betting.

The Manchester City midfielder has the ability to score from distance and may start shooting at any opportunity if the situation becomes desperate, so 7/1 on him scoring from outside the area also looks an interesting option in our Croatia vs Belgium betting tips.

Match Info

Where: Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan

When: 15:00, Thursday, 1st December

How to watch: BBC

View the latest football odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication