We said: Saudi Arabia 0-2 Croatia
Saudi Arabia have demonstrated defensive acumen and a lack of ruthlessness in equal measure in recent months, and the latter should prove costly against an in-form Croatia XI.
Both managers may avoid risking their biggest stars for long periods this week, but the Chequered Ones should still have no trouble getting the job done before the big one begins.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Saudi Arabia win with a probability of 42.91%. A win for Croatia had a probability of 36.43% and a draw had a probability of 20.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Saudi Arabia win was 1-2 with a probability of 7.63%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-3 (5.29%) and 2-3 (5.06%). The likeliest Croatia win was 2-1 (7.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (7.34%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 3.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Saudi Arabia would win this match.