Czech Republic vs Croatia Prediction: No Prague mercy for Captain Tom

The Czech Republic will be eyeing revenge on Thursday (19:45 BST, Amazon Prime Video) when they host Croatia, who thrashed them 5-1 in Osijek in June, at Fortuna Arena.

Below are my Czech Republic vs Croatia predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Uefa World Cup qualifier in Prague.

Team News

Czech Republic goalkeepers Vitezslav Jaros (Ajax, on loan from Liverpool) and Jindrich Stanek (Slavia Prague) have both pulled out of Ivan Hasek's squad due to injury, paving the way for Matej Kovar (Bayer Leverkusen) to start Thursday's game against Croatia. Lukas Hornicek (Braga) and Martin Jedlicka (Viktoria Plzen) have been called up as replacements for Jaros and Stanek ahead of Antonin Kinsky (Tottenham Hotspur).

Slavia Prague defenders Tomas Holes and David Doudera, who both started last month's 2-0 victory over Montenegro, are also out injured, as are forwards Patrick Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) and Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague), leaving the Czechs reliant on Tomas Chory (Slavia Prague) and Matej Vydra (Viktoria Plzen) in attack.

World Cup Odds

International centurions Luka Modric (AC Milan, Ivan Perisic (PSV Eindhoven), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim) and Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City) headline Croatia's squad for their October qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Gibraltar.

Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City) and Ante Budimir (Osasuna) have also been called up by Zlatko Dalic, but the likes of Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Borna Sosa (Crystal Palace) and Luka Sucic (Real Sociedad) have all been left on the standby list.

Today's Football Fixtures

Czech Republic vs Croatia Odds

The Czechs have won four of their five qualifiers so far, including both home games against the Faroe Islands (2-1) and Montenegro (2-0). Narodak are 2/1, or a 33.3% chance, to maintain their perfect home record, while Croatia are 7/5 (41.7%) to keep up their 100% record in Group L.

The draw is priced at 11/5, both teams to score at 4/5, and over 2.5 total goals at 11/10.

Price Boosts - BTTS, Tomas Chory (CZE), Andrej Kramaric (CRO) & Ivan Perisic (CRO) all 1+ Shots on Target @ 7/2 9/2

Three of these four legs landed in June's reverse fixture, with Kramaric (x2) and Perisic both scoring in Osijek. The only leg that failed to land was 1+ Chory shots on target, with the Slavia striker only introduced in the 77th minute, but with Schick out injured, the stage is set for Chory to start on Thursday.

The 30-year-old opened the scoring in his country's last international, last month's 1-1 friendly draw with Saudi Arabia, and has a respectable international record of five goals in 16 caps. Chory struck 20 times in 43 club appearances last season and already has three goals from his first eight outings this term.

He failed to find the back of the net in Sunday's 1-1 stalemate with Sparta Prague, but registered two shots on target.

Kramaric and Perisic, meanwhile, will hope to emulate their achievements in June, when they struck twice and once, respectively, against the Czechs.

Hoffenheim forward Kramaric has been in inspired form for his country this year, netting six times in four World Cup qualifiers, while Perisic has struck three goals in four qualifiers. Both look like solid bets to at least register a shot on target in Prague.

All that's left to discuss is BTTS, which has been achieved in all four previous head-to-heads, the first of which took place in February 2011.

The Czech Republic have scored in 21 of their last 22 internationals, while Croatia have struck in 12 of their last 14, and with the former on home soil this week, we should see a more even contest.

Player to Receive a Card - Tomas Soucek (CZE) @ 10/3

I think we're getting good value by backing Czech captain Tomas Soucek to receive a card at 10/3.

The West Ham United midfielder was issued seven yellow cards in the 2023/24 Premier League season, eight in 2024/25, and has just served a three-game suspension for a straight red dished out to him in the Irons' 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on September 13.

Soucek, who averaged 1.3 fouls per game in the English top flight last season, played an EFL Trophy match for West Ham's U21 side last week to maintain his fitness, and in that 3-1 defeat to Reading, he was booked in the 63rd minute.

The 30-year-old hasn't been cautioned this calendar year for his country, but he averaged two fouls per game in last year's Uefa Nations League campaign, picking up two yellows in five appearances, and is averaging 2.8 fouls per game across five World Cup qualifiers in 2025.

Offers

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