The World Cup final is this Sunday and who would have backed it being France v Croatia before the tournament began! All eyes will be on Moscow to see which team lift the famous cup.
Ross Casey offers his take on the World Cup final from a betting perspective...
(Sun 16.00)
France are the favourites to win the tournament but have still to really come alive in Russia. Les Bleus rode their luck in the quarters against Uruguay, with Fernando Muslera’s error providing the decisive moment in a 2-0 victory, before beating Belgium 1-0 in a match that caused Eden Hazard to state he would 'Prefer to lose with Belgium than win with France."
Their pragmatic approach, despite having a range of attacking talent on the pitch may grind people's gears, but this ios their second major final in a row and they are undefeated at this World Cup. Les Bleus are a best price of 19/20 to win here in 90 minutes and pick up their second World Cup.
Croatia produced one of the most improved performances to come from behind after a poor first half and defeat England in their semi-final with Luka Modric pulling the strings and Ante Rebic and Ivan Perisic giving Mario Mandzukic plenty of support with their pace and power on the flanks.
They are the underdogs in the World Cup betting and could prove to be the value bet at 19/5 to win and banish the ghosts of 1998 where France defeated them in the semi-final.
France To Be Winning At Half-Time @ 9/5 - BET NOW
Croatia have scored just three goals in the first half during their six matches so far, with a lot of their success riding on their fighting spirit and their willingness to press until the end. That has meant that a lot of their peformances have improved after the break and France can take advantage of this in my opinion.
The French certianly won't go gung ho as that is not in their nature under Didier Deschamps, but they will fancy their chances of catching the perennial slow starters Croatia on the hop in the opening 45 minutes. Odds of 9/5 appeal to me as France have kept four clean sheets in six games and have the ability to score from many situations.
That would then leave Croatia needing to fight and scrap their way back into the game in the second half - something they have proved they are more than capable of doing!
Match | Result | Date |
Uruguay v France | 0 - 2 | 06/07/2018 |
France v Argentina | 4 - 3 | 30/06/2018 |
Denmark v France | 0 - 0 | 26/06/2018 |
France v Peru | 1 - 0 | 21/06/2018 |
France v Australia | 2 - 1 | 16/06/2018 |
France v USA | 1 - 1 | 09/06/2018 |
Match | Result | Date |
Croatia v England | 1 -1 (2 - 1 AET) | 11/07/2018 |
Russia v Croatia | 2 - 2 (Croatia win 4 - 3 on Penalties | 07/07/2018 |
Croatia v Denmark | 1 - 1 (Croatia win 3 - 2 on Penalties) | 01/07/2018 |
Iceland v Croatia | 1 - 2 | 26/06/2018 |
Argentina v Croatia | 0 - 3 | 21/06/2018 |
Croatia v Nigeria | 2 - 0 | 16/06/2018 |
France Predicted XI: Hugo Lloris, Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Hernandez, Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Blaise Matuidi, Olivier Giroud
Croatia Predicted XI: Danijel Subasic, Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovern, Domagoj Vida, Josip Pivaric, Marcelo Brozovic, Ante Rebic, Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Mario Mandzukic
Easyodds offers punters looking at the World Cup odds the chance to compare prices and see which bookmakers are offering the value on particular markets.
One price of note regarding this game is the price on Ante Rebic, who has impressed many after a good season at Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, to score. He is a worst price of 4/1 to net and a best price of 7/1. See how worth your time perusing the odds is!
Sign up to Easyodds to use our odds comparison service for all your betting choices and get betting tips and the latest bookmaker offers in your inbox every week.
You can grab any new customer offer in our free bets section to place a wager on these markets. Thank you for reading and good luck betting today!
Get all the best 2018 World Cup odds at our extensive Football betting centre.