High-flying Denmark will welcome Croatia to Parken Stadium in Copenhagen for their UEFA Nations League encounter on Friday night.

The hosts currently sit top of League A Group 1 after winning their opening two matches, while the visitors sit at the foot of the standings with only one point.

Match preview

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After securing an impressive 2-1 victory away against world champions and Nations League holders France in their opening game, Denmark claimed another win by the same scoreline against Austria on Monday.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's 28th-minute opener was cancelled out in the 67th minute by Austria's Xaver Schlager, but the Danes regained the lead in the 84th minute courtesy of a strike from substitute Jens Stryger Larsen and they eventually held on for all three points.

Spirits are high among the Euro 2020 semi-finalists as they have now won eight of their last nine competitive international matches, scoring at least twice on six of these occasions.

After winning their opening two Nations League games on the road, Kasper Hjulmand's side will now return home where they have won each of their last five fixtures across all competitions by an aggregate score of 14-1.

The Danes, however, have lost their last two meetings with Croatia, including a 3-2 loss on penalties in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

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Croatia have endured a difficult start to their Nations League campaign, with a disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Austria in their opening fixture followed by a 1-1 draw at home to France on Monday.

Andrej Kramaric scored an 83rd-minute penalty against France to cancel out Adrien Rabiot's 52nd-minute opener and rescue a point for the hosts, who can take some positives from the match, albeit against a much-changes Les Bleus outfit.

Zlatko Dalic's side should not fear the prospect of relegation from League A just yet, but defeat on Friday against Denmark would see them slip eight points behind the summit, leaving them with a mountain to climb if they wish to win the group.

Croatia have only won two of their 12 Nations League games since the competition began in 2018 and have conceded at least two goals in nine of those matches.

The Chequered Ones have also conceded in each of their last five meetings with Denmark, so they will need to be on top of their game if they wish to claim maximum points on Friday.

Team News

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Denmark are set to be without forward Kasper Dolberg, who sustained a shoulder injury in the victory against France and subsequently missed the win over Austria.

Christian Eriksen has played the full 90 minutes in both of their opening two Nations League matches, so he could begin from the substitutes' bench this time around, with Mikkel Damsgaard the most likely candidate to replace him in the number 10 role, operating in behind strikers Andreas Cornelius and Martin Braithwaite.

Rasmus Kristensen may replace Daniel Wass at right wing-back, while Thomas Delaney, Mathias Jensen and Philip Billing will all be competing for a place in centre-midfield alongside Hojbjerg.

As for Croatia, Dalic may decide to make a number of changes to freshen up his side, although a midfield three of Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic could remain intact.

Josko Gvardiol remains sidelined as he is still nursing an injury and Duje Caleta-Car and Marin Pongracic could be handed starts at centre-back ahead of Martin Erlic and Domagoj Vida, while Celtic right-back Josip Juranovic and Rangers left-back Borna Barisic could drop to the bench at the expense of Sime Vrsaljko and Borna Sosa.

In attack, Kramaric is expected to return to the first XI ahead of Ante Budimir, and while Ivan Perisic remains out through injury, Lovro Majer and Josip Brekalo could keep their places in wide areas.

Denmark possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Anderson, Vestergaard, Nelsson; Kristensen, Hojbjerg, Delaney, Maehle; Damsgaard; Braithwaite, Cornelius

Croatia possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Vrsaljko, Caleta-Car, Pongracic, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Majer, Kramaric, Brekelo

We say: Denmark 2-1 Croatia

Although Denmark will be regarded as the slight favourites on Friday, a closely-fought contest is set to be played out, with Croatia still searching for their first win and hoping to build on their dogged performance against France which saw them rescue a point.

However, the Danes are in fine form at present and we can see them coming away with maximum points to maintain their 100% start in League A.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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