Croatia makes their trip to Turkey for an international friendly encounter on Wednesday evening.
Match Timings: Nov 11, 11:15 PM
Team Preview
Turkey will host Croatia on Wednesday, an international friendly encounter at the Vodafone Park, and it is going to be a close affair as both nations have announced strong squads for this match. The hosts are entering into the match after a 2-2 draw against Serbia last month in the UEFA Nations League. Hakan Calhanoglu and Ozan Tufan canceled out the Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic’s strikes. Yilmaz got the red card in injury time, but it won’t disappoint the Hosts.
AC Milan's Calhanoglu and Lille, right-back Zeki Celik would be crucial players for Turkey to win the home game. The hosts can handover the debut to Caykur Rizespor goalkeeper Gokhan Akkan. Yusuf Yazici might be a surprise package, the only player in UEFA European competition's history to score two away hat-tricks in a single season.
Meanwhile, the World Cup runner-up Croatia lost 2-1 to arch-rivals France last month in the UEFA Nations League. Nikola Vlasic’s goal wasn’t enough against the double strikes from Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann. Croatia have lost two out of nine encounters with Turkey, and four matches were drawn. They last faced each other in 2017, with Turkey edging past Croatia 1-0, courtesy of Cenk Tosun’s strike.
Croatia is more into their attack. Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, and Mario Pasalic would be the key players for Croatia in midfield. Zlatko Dalic is likely to mark the national debuts for Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Ivo Grbic and center-back Marin Pongracic, midfielder Toma Basic striker Antonio Colak.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Turkey
Lineup: Gunok, Sangare, Ayhan, Demiral, Erkin, Yokuslu, Tufan, Yazici, Karaca, Tosun, Under
Current form: D D D D
Croatia
Livakovic, Uremovic, Vida, Caleta-Car, Melnjak, Kovacic, Brozovic, Pasalic, Brekalo, Petkovic, Bradaric
Current form: L W W L
Key Players
Turkey
Yusuf Yazici
1 goal and 1 assist in Ligue 1 2020-21
6 goals in Europa League 2020-21
Calhanoglu
1 goal and 1 assist in Nations League 2020-21
Croatia
Luka Modric
1 goal in Champions League & La Liga each
Mario Pasalic
1 goal & 1 assist in Serie A 2020-21
