Croatia vs France Predictions

• Croatia were well beaten by Austria on Friday night.
• France have won both of their meetings with Croatia played since the famous World Cup Final win of 2018.
• The Vatreni have conceded two or more goals in eight of their last nine Nations League matches.

France can kickstart Nations League defence in Croatia

Holders France can kickstart their Nations League A Group 1 campaign in Split on Monday by beating a crumbling Croatia side that were shown to be nowhere near good enough by Austria on Friday night.

The manner of the Vatreni’s 3-0 home loss in Osijek will be really concerning to Zlatko Dalic, who could be coming under some pressure for the first time since taking the job and leading his nation to the World Cup Final four years ago.

Luka Modric will be back for the hosts here after missing the Austrian debacle and should earn his 150th cap from the start, but even he could struggle to contain a French side with an in-form Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku among the likely forward options. Kylian Mbappe is a doubt after not appearing for the second half of Friday’s 2-1 home defeat to Denmark.

Strength in depth should carry French to win

Didier Deschamps’ side must also deal with the loss of Raphael Varane through injury, but Croatia lack firepower up front and France had conceded just once in four outings prior to the Denmark game. A win to nil is a real possibility for Les Bleus, who have never lost to the Checkered Ones.

France are worthy favourites here and backers should not be put off by their odds-on quote as the squad is deep, motivated and well coached. Questions remain about Croatia in all three of those aspects right now with maybe only Modric’s landmark appearance here adding any edge to this fixture for them.

France to win with at least two goals scored looks like being a good way of boosting the odds above evens without adding too much risk as France have bagged multiple goals in seven of their last eight internationals while Croatia have conceded two or more goals in eight of their last nine Nations League matches.