In terms of raw numbers, Croatia’s defeat flattered the Spanish to some extent. They created an xG figure of 2.27 and were unfortunate not to come away with a goal in the game.

They go off here as rightful favourites for the game and Albania face another daunting task against a top side. We are potentially seeing their qualifying campaign inflating expectations of this team and a struggle against quality opposition such as Italy in their previous game, along with defeats to Chile and Sweden in March friendlies suggests they’re not quite as impressive as their qualification in top spot shows them to be.

Croatia will be fully aware that a win against Albania puts them in a strong position to come get of the group, potentially with a draw being enough against Italy.

The Croatian midfield magician averages 1.62 fouls drawn per 90 minutes and although he is not certain of playing the full 90 with his advancing years, he is still a huge asset to this Croatian side, while Paddy Power Super Sub is active even if he does go off before being fouled.

Although he was never the quickest, his exceptional ability on the ball and in tight spaces will be much needed in this fixture and he will still be an outlet when surrounded by Albanian players.

Albania will be well aware of the threat he poses and how he can control the game and will be looking to target him before he can release any killer through balls.

Kramaric averages 1.3 shots on target per 90 minutes but this rises when playing against weaker opposition. He’s hit at least one shot on target in eight of his last nine appearances and only completed the full 90 minutes in two of them.

Given that Croatia are creating chances, if not putting them away, he lands a good chance of landing this line even if he doesn’t play the full game.

An added bonus is that he is the first-choice penalty taker. Croatia were awarded a penalty in qualifying but missed it, so there’s no reason they can’t get another in this fixture, allowing Kramaric an easy chance to get one of his two shots on target out of the way.

Croatia and Man City’s star defender almost scored against Spain and shot twice in that game, as well as having three shots against Portugal in the Croat’s last warm-up friendly.

He’s also been averaging 1.15 shots per 90 minutes for Man City this season and has hit two or more shots for them on seven occasions. He scored an impressive four goals for City last season and already has two goals for the national side in 31 caps.

Although primarily a centre back, he has been used as a left back at times for Man City this season and his last three starts for Croatia have been in that position, providing him with more chances from wide positions to get shots away.

Luka Modric has eight assists for Real Madrid this season but has actually provided chances that go over that number, with an expected assists total of 8.88.

Considering the attacking talent at Real Madrid’s disposal and the variety of creative sources there, this is doubly impressive. He isn’t regularly playing 90 minutes which is understandable and his 2308 minutes in 47 games work out to roughly 49 minutes played per game this season.

We expect him to be on the pitch longer than that in this game and for Croatia, he averages 0.2 assists per 90 going back to the 2022/23 season.

He manager two in a friendly game against Egypt back in March but with regular free kick and corner duties, we expect him to be back to form, setting up another goal in this crucial game.

Croatia have earned an average of 5.8 corners per match in their last ten games compared to Albania’s 3.3.

Breaking down the statistics further, Albania have had five or more corners in just two of their last 10 games, compared to Croatia hitting this line eight times.

Albania lost the corner count, 5-3, against Italy in their last game out and we expect it to be a similar story this time, with Croatia dominating territory and possession and moving the ball to the flanks to create space and opportunities to break down the stubborn Albanian defence.