France – Croatia

The Croats will not be able to withstand the competition in their away clash with the French

Croatia played their best match in the last couple of years in their first clash with France a few days ago. The meeting in Split started with a penalty kick by Kramaric, which was successfully kicked by the French goalkeeper. It would seem that such an event should have added confidence and excitement to the actions of the vice-world champions, but in the 26th minute Croatia opened the scoring - Budimir scored from Perisic's pass. Towards the end of the first half, when the match commentators began to speculate whether the hosts would keep the lead, the 36-year-old PSV striker did not pass but scored himself. The second half saw constant attacks and France's territorial advantage, but it was Livakovic, who had caught his fancy, who stood in the way of all French attempts to score. At the Stade de France on Sunday, it will be a completely different game with a different emotional tone. Didier Deschamps has already turned up the heat at crucial moments in this Nations League, which allowed France to take first place in their Ligue A quartet. It will be much easier to do so at home. Bookmakers have identified the home team as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.44 on their victory. Given the fact that for almost thirteen years of leadership over the French team Deschamps has not been in any trouble, this coach knows exactly the right plan of action for the return leg. Knowing thoroughly the capabilities, tone and mood of each of his players, having in his arsenal the usual for every national team tactical schemes "for every occasion", Didier will definitely find the right keys to Livakovic's goal in the return game. The human resource of the home team in comparison with the Croatian squad looks limitless. Only three of France's twenty-three players from Real Madrid have a much higher transfer value than the entire Croatian squad. Croatia probably won't look like a whipping boy in the return leg. That being said, Modric and company will face a much more cohesive performance from a much classier opponent on Sunday. The Croatians lost away to Portugal and Scotland in the group stage, and drew with the Poles. France will take a convincing revenge.