Czech Republic begin a new era under Santi Denia who might need some time to sort out an inexperienced squad.
Croatia have no such issues and with Slaven Bilic back in charge, I am backing the visitors to win.
HTH
Croatia have never lost against Czech Republic, leading 2-0 alongside four draws.
New Era for Czechia
Czech Republic are coming off a disappointing World Cup campaign where they failed to win a game.
Ladislav Krejci opened the scoring against South Korea but they lost control in Guadalajara and went down 2-1. Michal Sadilek scored in the 6th minute against South Africa, but once again they fell apart and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Miroslav Koubek’s last game in charge was a 3-0 defeat to Mexico. They went into half-time 0-0 but couldn’t stick with the hosts in the second half.
Santi Denia replaced Koubek to become the first foreign manager to lead the Czech side. The 52-year-old Spaniard led Spain's team to gold at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Czech Republic Squad, Team News & Predicted Line Up
Goalkeepers: Matej Kovar, Lukas Hornicek, Antonin Kinsky
Defenders: Vladimir Coufal, Ladislav Krejci, Robin Hranac, Martin Vitik, Stepan Chaloupek, Matej Rynes, Michal Sacek, Ondrej Kricfalusi, Jiri Slama
Midfielders: Alex Kral, Michal Sadilek, Ondrej Lingr, Lukas Cerv, Adam Karabec, Pavel Bucha, Lukas Ambros, Roman Macek, Matej Radosta, Martin Subert
Forwards: Adam Hlozek, Pavel Sulc, Vaclav Sejk, Daniel Vasulin
Santi Denia has rung the changes here with eight players in line to make their debuts. Just one player has more than 50 caps, Vladimir Coufal.
David Zima, David Jurasek, Lukas Provod and Tomas Chory are injured and 30-year-old Patrik Schick has retired from international football.
The striker made the announcement after his team was eliminated from the World Cup: “I am leaving proud of what I have achieved in the national team jersey. But at the same time with the feeling that Czech soccer has much more to offer than it has shown in recent years.”
Czech Republic (4-2-3-1): Lukas Hornicek; Vladimir Coufal, Ladislav Krejci, Martin Vitik, Jiri Slama; Michal Sadilek, Lukas Cerv; Lukas Ambros, Pavel Sulc, Adam Karabec; Adam Hlozek
Veterans Remain for Croatia
Croatia started the World Cup with a 4-2 defeat against England but bounced back to get out of the group stage.
Ante Budimir scored in a narrow 1-0 win against Panama. Nikola Vlasic’s late goal secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Ghana, their third straight game with less than 10 shots.
Ivan Perisic opened the scoring against Portugal in the Round of 32 but the Blazers couldn’t make it count, conceding in the 94th minute to go down 2-1 in Toronto.
Zlatko Dalic stepped down after nine years in charge with Slaven Bilic returning to the role he occupied from 2006 to 2012.
Croatia Squad, Team News & Predicted Line Up
Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic, Dominik Kotarski, Ivor Pandur
Defenders: Josko Gvardiol, Josip Sutalo, Josip Stanisic, Marin Pongracic, Luka Vuskovic, Ivan Smolcic
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Mario Pasalic, Nikola Vlasic, Lovro Majer, Martin Baturina, Luka Sucic, Petar Sucic, Kristijan Jakic, Josip Misic
Forwards: Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, Ante Budimir, Marco Pasalic, Petar Musa, Igor Matanovic, Franjo Ivanovic, Dion Drena Beljo
Martin Erlic and Josip Juranovic withdrew due to injury and Duje Caleta-Car misses out after being in the World Cup squad.
Veterans Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric remain in the squad, all players with over 100 caps each.
Croatia (4-2-3-1): Dominik Livakovic; Josip Stanisic, Josip Sutalo, Marin Pongracic, Josko Gvardiol; Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic; Nikola Vlasic, Petar Sucic, Martin Baturina; Igor Matanovic