Preview: Switzerland vs. Croatia - prediction, team news, lineups

Switzerland and Croatia will be out to bring an end to their respective two-match winless runs when they meet in an international friendly at the AFG Arena on Wednesday evening.

World Cup finalists Croatia suffered back-to-back defeats upon their return to action last month, while Switzerland drew one and lost one of their September matches.

Match preview

Switzerland may be winless in their opening two UEFA Nations League Group A4 matches, but they did take a point off Germany in their most recent match.

Silvan Widmer swept home to cancel out Ilkay Gundogan's opener as the Swiss battled to a 1-1 draw in Basel, three days after losing 2-1 to Ukraine.

It leaves Vladimir Petkovic's men bottom of their group and in need of a victory from their meetings with Spain and Germany, which immediately follow this Croatia friendly.

Beating Croatia may not be top of Petkovic's list of priorities, then, but he will know the importance of regaining the winning feeling in the dressing room.

Switzerland had won three games in a row prior to the defeat in Ukraine and will be eager to put things right on Wednesday night.

Croatia will have other ideas, of course, particularly having lost their first two Group A3 matches against Portugal and France, conceding four goals in both games.

In fact, the outcome of the France match - a 4-2 defeat - was the same scoreline from the World Cup final contested between the pair in 2018.

Like their opponents, Croatia had previously been used to avoiding defeat, having won four and drawn two of their previous six games.

The sides have an identical record in terms of their last six encounters, the most recent of which ended in a 2-2 draw in a March 2014 friendly.

Switzerland form (all competitions): LWWWLD

Croatia form (all competitions): WDWWLL

Team News

Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic, a key member of Croatia's World Cup 2018 squad, confirmed last month that he has retired from international football.

Luka Modric is back involved after missing the September fixtures, while Lille defender Domagoj Bradaric has earned a first call-up.

Elsewhere, big-hitters Ivan Perisic, Ante Rebic and Marcelo Brozovic are also included in the 26-man squad for the three upcoming games.

As for Switzerland, Wolfsburg midfielder Renato Steffen has had to pull out of the squad after testing positive for coronavirus.

Xherdan Shaqiri is part of the group, despite his lack of playing time in recent months, while Nice defender Jordan Lotomba is in line to make his senior debut.

Admir Mehmedi, Remo Freuler, Edimilson Fernandes, Cedric Itten, Eray Comert and Fabian Schar have also been recalled, though the latter is carrying a shoulder injury.

Switzerland possible starting lineup: Sommer; Mbabu, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Zuber; Embolo, Sow, Xhaka, Vargas; Seferovic

Croatia possible starting lineup: Livakovic; Jedvaj, Lovren, Vida, Barisic; Pasalic, Kovacic; Brekalo, Vlasic, Rebic; Kramaric

We say: Switzerland 1-1 Croatia

Both sides will be looking to hit back after failing to win their two matches last month. Switzerland did at least take a point off Germany last time out, whereas Croatia lost 4-2 to France.

Going further back, Switzerland and Croatia have similar records over the past couple of years and there is nothing to separate them in terms of their previous meetings, so we are tipping this one to finish as a draw.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data