Croatia and Austria will begin their respective 2022-23 UEFA Nations League campaigns with a clash in Osijek on Friday night.
The two teams have been drawn alongside France and Denmark in League A Group 1, and both will play four matches in the competition over the next couple of weeks.
Match preview
Croatia found it difficult to make an impression in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, picking up just three points from their six matches to finish bottom of League A Group 3.
The Blazers have actually lost each of their last three games in this competition, but they will enter Friday's affair off the back of a 2-1 victory over Bulgaria in an international friendly at the end of March.
Zlatko Dalic's side will also be present at the 2022 World Cup, having finished top of Group H, picking up 23 points from their 10 matches courtesy of a record of seven wins, two draws and one defeat.
Croatia were runners-up at the 2018 World Cup, beating England in the semi-finals of the competition before suffering a 4-2 loss to France in the final.
The home team failed to make a serious impression at Euro 2020, though, going out in the last-16 stage of the competition to Spain, and it would be a surprise if they were able to challenge for success in Qatar.
Austria, though, have failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, finishing fourth in Group F, only managing to pick up 16 points from 10 matches during a disappointing qualification campaign.
The Team have not actually been present in the finals of a World Cup since 1998, when they were eliminated in the group stage, but Burschen were at Euro 2020 last summer, going out in the round of 16 to winners Italy.
Austria finished top of Group 1 of League B in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, which allowed them to earn promotion to Group A, but they are in a very tough group this time around.
Ralf Rangnick was recently confirmed as the new head coach of the European nation, and the 63-year-old will have his full focus on the role, as he is now not staying on at Manchester United as a consultant.
The German will be determined to get off to the perfect start against Croatia, while the national side will also take on Denmark twice and France in the competition in the early stages of June.
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Team News
Croatia boss Dalic will need to assess the fitness of Luka Modric following his involvement for Real Madrid in the Champions League final, but the experienced midfielder is expected to start here.
Modric could be joined by Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic in a midfield three, while Domagoj Vida is likely to earn his 98th cap in the middle of the defence.
Dalic has decisions to make in the final third of the field, and it would not be a surprise to see Andrej Kramaric, who has 18 goals for the national side, feature alongside Josip Brekalo in a front two.
As for Austria, Marko Arnautovic is comfortably the leading goalscorer in the squad with 32 goals, and the 33-year-old is expected to be named in Rangnick's first XI.
Marcel Sabitzer and Sasa Kalajdzic could also potentially operate in the final third of the field, with Konrad Laimer featuring in the middle for the visitors.
Like Modric, David Alaba was involved in last weekend's Champions League final, and the 29-year-old has recently struggled with injury problems, so his fitness will need to be assessed here.
Croatia possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Vida, Caleta-Car, Gvardiol; Juranovic, Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic, Barisic; Kramaric, Brekalo
Austria possible starting lineup:
Lindner; Lainer, Lienhart, Posch, Alaba; Schlager, Laimer, Baumgartner; Arnautovic, Kalajdzic, Sabitzer
We say: Croatia 2-1 Austria
Rangnick will be desperate to get off to the perfect start as head coach of Austria, and the visitors are certainly capable of picking up a positive result on Friday. Croatia have a lot of quality, though, especially in midfield, and we believe that the home side will claim a narrow success in this contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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