Betting Preview – Favorites Brazil vs weakened Croatia

In just 5 hours, biggest sports event in the world for 2014 will begin. That’s right, is about to kick off! It’s quite hard to imagine a better opening match for this competition than the one that is actually taking place – Brazil vs Croatia! Homies are big favorites to win this game, their group and actually also the whole World Cup this year. For the first time in years, they have successfully managed to get all of their top players in shape and with no injuries.

You can watch this game LIVE with Bet365 Tv or UnibetTV – just sign up for an account at any of these.

The team has been quite fortunate not to lose any players due to injuries and have been really successful in friendly matches. Brazil haven’t lost their last 9 games, but they have also outscored their opposition – 30 to 2!

Team Brazil did have to experience some fear though, as Neymar managed to get his ankle injured. Luckily, after team doctors took a look on it, they realized it’s nothing serious.

Croatia, on the other hand, have had terrible luck with their top players. The biggest star of their team, Mario Mandzukic (plays for Real Madrid), managed to get a red card in the play-off qualifiers vs Iceland, which means he won’t be able to participate in this opening game. Bad luck didn’t end there though, as one of the main defensemen for team Croatia got a 10 game disqualification after he yelled some fascistic phrases, while holding a microphone in a stadium. Oh well, sounds quite epic anyway!

Of course, Croatia wouldn’t be the favorites even if all of their players would be able to participate in this game. Brazil really do have an amazing team for this years World Cup and are hosts of the tournament.

Potential Squads

These aren’t confirmed yet, but it’s about 95% that both teams will start the game with these squads:

Brazil – 4:2:3:1 formation

Julio Cesar (Toronto)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
David Luiz (PSG)
Dani Alves (Barcelona)
Paulinho (Tottenham)
Louis Gustavo (Wolfsburg)
Neymar (Barcelona)
Oscar (Chelsea)
Hulk (Zenit Moscow)
Fred (Fluminense)

Croatia – 4:2:3:1 formation

Pleticosa (Rostov)
Vrsaljko (Genoa)
Lovren (Southampton)
Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Modric (Real Madrid)
Rakitic (Sevilla)
Olic (Wolfsburg)
Kovacic (Milan Inter)
Perisic (Wolfsburg)
Jelavic (Hull City)

Bet on Croatia vs Brazil

Bookmakers had set the line on both of these teams approximately two months ago and now with all the negative changed in squad of team Croatia, it seems like they really don’t stand a chance in this match-up. Though, that doesn’t mean that you cannot get some value out of it by placing some smart wagers. Below you’ll find some pretty good betting tips for this game:

Brazil To Win After First Half – 1.82 at Unibet
Over 2,5 Goals in the Match – 2.00 at Unibet
Brazil -1,5 – 1.98 at Unibet
Over 13,5 shots made in the game – 1.85 at Unibet
Fred to score for Brazil – 2,43 at Unibet
Neymar to Score for Brazil – 2.20 at Bet365
Brazil to Win & Both Teams to Score – 4.00 at Bet365

Where to Bet?

If you still haven’t found an online betting site to bet on the World Cup, find some of the best ones below. These stand out by offering the highest odds, best bonuses and widest markets for every game during the competition!