Crunch time
Croatia will, with a win, finish top of the group and seal the deal on Saturday night against Slovakia in group E. However, Slovakia have a game less played and will with a victory find themselves only one point behind top dogs Croatia followed by a very winnable home game against Azerbaijan waiting in their last round meaning that they could still finish first.
Croatia
The Croats could have ended it all against Wales in the last round but had to settle for a draw after squandering a 1-0 lead which is to be fair a decent result against a Wales side that enjoy home advantage.
As long as Zlatko Dalic's men avoid defeat, they will qualify for next summers Euro's and seeing how they beat the Slovakian's 4-0 in the reverse fixture they will definitely fancy their chances here.
Injury problems
A cause for worry is however the fact that they are missing a whole host of players including Rakitic, Mitrovic, Kramaric, Lovren and Vida with all of the aforementioned playing a rather big roll.
Great depth
The upside is that they have great depth in squad and have very capable replacements so the only relevant question is whether or not they have had enough time to form some sort of synergy.
Slovakia
The Slovaks have, like their opponents, had a decent campaign so far including wins away at Hungary and Azerbaijan but find themselves in a rather precarious situation due to their failures against Wales.
A game in hand
BUT, all is far from lost due to the simple fact that Slovakia have one game less played compared to all but the Welsh who find themselves two points behind Slovakia.
All in their own hands
They can currently be found at third, two points shy of second and the last direct qualifying spot but will leapfrog Hungary if they win on Saturday.
Out of their hands, but still possible
Pavel Hapal's men will however still have a decent chance of qualifying even if they lose due to main rival's Hungary and Wales facing off in the last round.
The second scenario is the more plausible one simply because Croatia are without a doubt the better side, on paper at least.
Betting tip
Croatia are without a doubt the better side which is why i will be backing a Croatia win at 12/25 with 888sport.
