Croatia have scored exactly three goals in four of their last seven matches.
Croatia have kept clean sheets in four of their last five games.
Malta have failed to score in two of their last four home games.
Only a win likely to do for Croatia

Croatia lost their advantage over Russia last month so can’t afford to slip up against Malta if they are to maintain their hopes of qualifying automatically for Qatar 2022.

Thursday’s game could be a bit tense to begin with, but Croatia’s quality should eventually see them home with a bit to spare against a Malta side that were well beaten at home by Slovenia last time out.

The Slovenes are a decent footballing side, but not a patch on Zlatko Dalic’s men for quality in midfield or firepower, which suggests to us that a scoreline matching or approaching that 4-0 rout could again be on the cards.

A lot still hangs on Domogoj Vida and Dejan Lovren for Croatia at the back, but at least the experienced duo are fit and free from suspension going into the final two games with the bigger clash – against Russia in Split to follow next week.

Dalic’s side have defensive platform

Beyond that, they have young defenders from a new generation emerging like Marin Pongracic, Duje Caleta-Car and Josko Gvardiol, so they should have a sloid platform to play at Ta’Qali National Stadium – a hybrid grass pitch with a good surface.

The odds on a Croatia win are short for a very good reason, but we can boost those up a bit by taking the visitors to win with at least three goals in the game. In all likelihood, none of those goals will be scored by the Falcons. Devis Mangia’s men will probably have to make do with less than 40 per cent of possession and are unlikely to trouble Croatia even from set pieces – hence or correct score prediction of 3-0.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

克罗地亚在过去的七场比赛中有四场进了三个球。
克罗地亚在最近的五场比赛中有四场没有失球。
马耳他队在最近四场主场比赛中有两场没有进球。
对克罗地亚来说，只有一场胜利才有可能

克罗地亚上个月在对俄罗斯的比赛中失去了优势，所以如果他们想要保持自动晋级2022年卡塔尔冬奥会的希望，就不能在对马耳他的比赛中失手。

周四的比赛一开始可能会有点紧张，但克罗地亚的实力最终会让他们在主场对阵马耳他的比赛中略胜一筹，后者在上一场比赛中被斯洛文尼亚在主场大败。

斯洛文尼亚是一支不错的球队，但在中场质量和火力上都比不上兹拉特科·达利奇的球员，这表明我们很有可能再次以4-0大败斯洛文尼亚。

克罗地亚的维达和洛夫伦在后防线上的表现仍然不容乐观，但至少这两位经验丰富的球员已经恢复健康，而且不会被禁赛，他们将在接下来的两场比赛中面临更大的挑战——下周在斯普利特对阵俄罗斯。

戴里奇的球队有防守平台

除此之外，他们还有新一代的年轻后卫，比如Marin Pongracic, Duje Caleta-Car和Josko Gvardiol，所以他们在Ta 'Qali国家体育场应该有一个流畅的平台，一个混合草地球场，有一个好的场地。

克罗地亚获胜的几率很低，这是有原因的，但我们可以通过让客队在比赛中至少进三个球来提高胜算。很有可能，这些进球都不会是猎鹰队的。曼吉亚的球员们可能不得不在控球率不到40%的情况下勉强应付，甚至连定位球都不太可能给克罗地亚带来麻烦——因此也不太可能修正3-0的比分预测。