Republic Of Ireland v Croatia

Both Republic Of Ireland and Croatia required the playoffs to qualify for Euro 2012 and neither are expected to qualify from Group C.

However a win for either side here would put them in a great position and with so much at stake we could see a really cagey match between these teams, although it can't be too cagey, a draw won't be much use to either team in all probability.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Match Odds

Betting on the result of each match is usually the most popular market, with this being a close game decent odds are available on all outcomes.

Rep of Ireland v Croatia

Full Time Result

	Odds	Bookie
Ireland	3.60
Draw	3.20
Croatia	2.15

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Head To Head Record

Games Played	Ireland Wins	Draws	Croatia Wins
6	2	3	1

Recent Meetings

Date	Competition/Venue	Team	Result	Team
15/08/2001	Friendly/Dublin	Republic of Ireland	2:2 (1:0)	Croatia
16/11/2004	Friendly/Dublin	Republic of Ireland	1:0 (1:0)	Croatia
10/08/2011	Friendly/Dublin	Republic of Ireland	0-0 (0-0)	Croatia

BACK CROATIA TO BEAT REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

This game is likely to be extremely close and whilst Republic Of Ireland are a team that are well respected and tough to beat they couldn't beat Russia or Slovakia (the two beat teams in their group) in qualifying over four games. Croatia won more games in qualifying and look to have a bit more class in their team, Ireland simply don't have quality such as Luka Modric in their team, and Croatia look the percentage call to win this match.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Asian Handicap Odds

Asian Handicap is available on all games and offers slight twist on match betting, one team is usually given a lead to level the playing field.

Rep of Ireland v Croatia

Asian Hcap

	Odds	Bookie
Rep of Ireland 0.25	2.10
Croatia -0.25	1.80

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BACK REPUBLIC OF IRELAND +0.25

Another close first round Euro 2012 match looks very likely here and although Croatia are narrowly fancied in this one, Republic Of Ireland can never be written off in a game like this. Backing Republic Of Ireland +0.25 seems a realtively low risk bet and a good cover bet if you are backing a narrow win for the Croatians in other markets. Republic Of Ireland could even cause a shock and win this game so it's not a bad bet, although one of the least likely bets highlighted here to actually win with Croatia just about given the nod for victory.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Goals Odds

A look at how many goals are likely to go in and the best bets surrounding those goals.

Rep of Ireland v Croatia

Total Goals

	Odds	Bookie
Over 2.5	2.50
Under 2.5	1.55

Correct Score

	Odds	Bookie
Croatia #1-0	6.00
Draw #1-1	6.50
Draw #0-0	8.00
Rep of Ireland #1-0	8.50

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Republic Of Ireland Recent Competitive Results

Date	Home Team	Result	Away Team
02/09/2011	Republic Of Ireland	0-0 (0-0)	Slovakia
06/09/2011	Russia	0-0 (0-0)	Republic Of Ireland
07/10/2011	Andorra	0-2 (0-2)	Republic Of Ireland
11/10/2011	Republic Of Ireland	2-1 (1-0)	Armenia
07/10/2011	Estonia	0-4 (0-1)	Republic Of Ireland
11/10/2011	Republic Of Ireland	1-1 (1-0)	Estonia

Croatia Recent Competitive Results

Date	Home Team	Result	Away Team
02/11/2011	Malta	1-3 (1-2)	Croatia
06/11/2011	Croatia	3-1 (0-1)	Israel
07/10/2011	Greece	2-0 (0-0)	Croatia
11/10/2011	Croatia	2-0 (0-0)	Latvia
07/10/2011	Turkey	0-3 (0-1)	Croatia
11/10/2011	Croatia	0-0 (0-0)	Turkey

BACK 1-0 CROATIA AND UNDER 2.5 GOALS

The first round of matches at the European Championships is traditionally low scoring because no one wants to start off with a loss, four years ago 75% of the first round of fixtures had under 2.5 goals and this could be the best under 2.5 goals bet from the entire group stage. Republic Of Ireland conceded just two goals in their final seven competitive matches whilst five of those games contained under 2.5 goals. In Croatia's final four matches there were five clean sheets out of a possible eight and three of those were kept by Croatia. Both teams have strong defences and neither team managed to average two goals a game against weaker teams in qualifying. Croatia look to have slightly more quality in the final third though and should be able to nick one goal in this match.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Player Betting

A look at all the best bets that involve the players from Republic Of Ireland and Croatia, the most popular of which are the goalscorer odds.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Goalscorer Stats

Player	Games (Sub)	Goals	Games Scored In	First Goals	Last Goals	Pens Scored
Robbie Keane (Ire)	11	7	5	1	3	2
Niko Kranjcar (Cro)	8	4	2	2	0	1
Eduardo (Cro)	6 (5)	3	2	1	1	0
Mario Mandzukic (Cro)	7 (3)	3	3	0	1	0
Nikola Kalinic (Cro)	1 (5)	2	2	0	2	0
Ivica Olic (Cro)	5	2	2	1	0	0
Kevin Doyle (Ire)	9	2	1	1	0	0
Aiden McGeady (Ire)	11 (1)	2	2	1	1	0

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Bookings Stats

Below are all the players who were booked more than once or sent off during qualifying for each team.

Player	Games (Sub)	Yellow Cards	First Yellow Card Of Game	Red Cards
Kevin Doyle (Ire)	9	3	0	1
Richard Dunne (Ire)	10	4	0	0
Darijo Srna (Cro)	10	4	1	0
Sean St Ledger (Ire)	9	3	0	0
Stephen Ward (Ire)	5	2	1	0
Vedran Corluka (Cro)	11	2	1	0
Nikola Kalinic (Cro)	1 (5)	2	0	0
Ognjen Vukojevic (Cro)	7 (1)	2	0	0
Tomislav Dujmovic (Cro)	3 (3)	2	1	0
Mario Mandzukic (Cro)	7 (3)	2	0	0
Niko Kranjcar (Cro)	8	2	0	0

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Team News

Team news for Republic Of Ireland and Croatia will be added nearer to kick off.

BACK NIKO KRANJCAR TO SCORE FIRST AGAINST REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Anyone who fancies Republic Of Ireland to score the first goal should be backing Robbie Keane to score the first goal, he scored more than three times the amount of goals in qualifying of Ireland's next best goalscorer. However we think Croatia could have the measure of Republic Of Ireland here and Niko Kranjcar has as likely a chance as any Croatia of player of opening the scoring. Not only does Kranjcar take penalties, he also scored four goals in qualifying from eight matches and that was more than any of his team mates. Kranjcar also scored two first goals in qualifying which again was a better return than his team mates and he looks a good bet to score the first and possibly the only goal of this match.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Half Time Odds

The half time betting markets allow you to bet on what the result will be at half time, either on its own or together with the full time result. This can help to maximise profit from a game when you have studied the form carefully.

Rep of Ireland v Croatia

Half Time Result

	Odds	Bookie
Draw	1.95
Croatia	2.95
Rep of Ireland	4.75

Half Time / Full Time

	Odds	Bookie
Croatia - Croatia	3.60
Draw - Draw	4.60
Draw - Croatia	5.00
Rep of Ireland - Rep of Ireland	6.50

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Team	Games	HT Wins	HT Draws	HT Losses	1st Half Goals	2nd Half Goals
Republic Of Ireland	12	7	4	1	12	8
Croatia	12	5	5	2	8	13

BACK DRAW/CROATIA IN THE HALF TIME/FULL TIME BETTING AND THE HALF TIME SCORE TO BE 0-0

In a game that could be very low scoring it stands to reason that the draw is the most likely half time result, especially as Republic Of Ireland were losing just one out of twelve qualifers at half time. Add to that the fact that Croatia seem to struggle to score in the first half (scored one first half goal in their last five competitive matches) and this looks very likely to be 0-0 at half time before Croatia go on to finally get their goal in the second half.

Republic Of Ireland v Croatia Best Bet

Whichever way this game goes it is hard to see there being many goals with two solid defences meeting and neither side having an outstanding record in attack either. Add to that the good record of under 2.5 goals in the first set of fixtures at the European Championships and Under 2.5 goals looks by far the best bet in this match.