Slovakia will play host to Croatia on Saturday evening at the Štadión Tehelné pole with the hosts sitting in 3rd spot and just a point behind the Group H leaders and visitors, Croatia, prior to this clash.
Slovakia still remain unbeaten so far in their World Cup qualifying campaign as the hosts have drawn three and won one of their four group matches to date, which consists of draws with Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia, while also picking up an important 2-1 home win over Russia.
🛠️ Back to work: #Croatia practice session in Bratislava 🇸🇰🇭🇷 #WCQ #Vatreni🔥 pic.twitter.com/a0UDY44FO7— HNS (@HNS_CFF) September 2, 2021
🛠️ Back to work: #Croatia practice session in Bratislava 🇸🇰🇭🇷 #WCQ #Vatreni🔥 pic.twitter.com/a0UDY44FO7
Overall results have seen Slovakia lose just two of their last 12 World Cup qualifiers, both of which were away from home at England and Scotland respectively while also winning five of their last six games on home soil as well.
However, this upcoming encounter against Croatia represents Slovakia’s toughest fixture to date in these current World Cup qualifiers.
Having lost four out of the last five meetings against Croatia, Slovakia could have their work cut out here on Saturday night.
Croatia sit top of Group H on goal difference ahead of 2nd placed Russia as they prepare for this upcoming trip to Slovakia and although they lost their opening match in the group, Croatia have responded in positive fashion.
An opening 1-0 defeat away from home at Slovenia wasn’t the sort of start that Croatia had envisaged before the qualifiers commenced but Zlatko Dalic’s side have bounced back since by recording back-to-back wins against Cyprus and Malta along with picking up a point in a 0-0 draw away at Russia.
The bigger picture shows that Croatia have lost just three of their last 18 World Cup qualifiers overall, but results away from home generally in recent times have raised more than a few questions over their ability to perform on their travels.
Croatia have managed to register just two wins out of their last 17 matches away from home in all competitions although the majority of their opposition have been higher ranked nations on the world stage such as France, Spain, Portugal, England and Belgium amongst others.
Croatia have had their problems on the road in recent times but they do hold a solid record against Slovakia in previous exchanges and the visitors could come out on top once again on Saturday.