Croatia vs Latvia prediction 07.09.2023

• Date: 08/09/2023
• Competition: UEFA European Championship Qualifiers
• KO: 19:45 UTC +1 / 20:45 CEST
• Venue: Stadion HNK Rijeka (Rijeka)

UEFA European Championship qualifying continues at Stadion HNK Rijeka on Friday as Croatia takes on Latvia in Group D.

Croatia vs Latvia Betting Tips: Latvia +2 AH

Croatia comes into this fixture having picked up four points from their first two qualifiers against Wales and Turkey. While disappointed to be held at home by the Welsh, Zlatko Dalić´s side picked up a likely vital win in Bursa to leave the Croats third in the section, five points behind the Turks but with two games in hand. 

Contrastingly, Latvia have lost each of their first three qualifiers and, while now unlikely to compete for a qualification place, cannot be entirely underestimated.

The Latvians, while pointless, lost by just one goal in each of their three defeats against Wales (1:0),  Turkey (2:3) and Armenia (2:1).

In addition, Latvia only lost one of five away qualifiers for last year´s World Cup after picking up fairly impressive road draws at Turkey, Montenegro and Norway in 2021. 

On the road, the Latvians had enjoyed a seven-game unbeaten run before successive one-goal away losses at Ireland, Wales and Armenia. 

While Croatia should get the job done in Rijeka, I expect Latvia to make this a competitive contest, and I fancy the visitors on the Asian Lines against the hot home favourites,

The Croats have won by more than 1 goal in just 1 of their last 11 home matches, and considering Latvia´s improved levels of competitiveness, I like the chances of Dainis Kazakevičs side losing by no more than two goals.