Croatia are aiming to get back into second after a brutal loss to Wales in their last outing with the third-placed World Cup side from last year hoping to rack up a few goals against Latvia.
Croatia have finished second and third at the past two World Cups but are heading into this game knowing they cannot afford to drop any points against Latvia. The nation are currently level on points with Wales with 10 each and ahead of them on goals difference.
However, after a loss in Cardiff, the club are coming into this game down on the head-to-head record and needing to better the results of the Welsh in the final two games of the campaign. Mario Pasalic did score another goal that day against Wales in a 2-1 defeat.
This does also now mean two losses in a row for Croatia, as they were beaten by Turkey in the outing before that on home soil. This has thrown them from second into third, but with games against Latvia and Armenia, who they have already defeated with clean sheets, they will be confident in getting into the finals of Euro 2024 still.
That last meeting against Latvia saw Bruno Petkovic score twice in the first half alongside a first half goal from Luka Ivanusec. Andrej Karmaric and Pasalic were also among the goals that day. Kramaric would also get a goal in the first half of an away win against Armenia.
As for Latvia, despite not putting up much of a fight throughout their time in Group D, they have still managed to beat Aremia in the last outing and now head into this game with one win and six losses from seven games. Janis Ikaunieks and Daniels Balodis scored a goal each alongside a red card from Marcis Oss in the game against Armenia.
