World Cup warm up: Can Eriksen compete with Modric mastery?
As one of only three teams to progress to the knockout phase with a 100% record, Croatia have earned what most would consider a favourable round of 16 draw, though Denmark will be hoping to prove otherwise.
Age Hareide’s side are unbeaten to this stage too, after all, coming through a challenging group with five points and just a single goal conceded.
It’s that defensive resolve that will be crucial to causing an upset on Sunday evening, with a Mile Jedinak penalty the only shot to have beaten Kasper Schmeichel thus far. The issue is whether they can pose problems at the opposite end, with Denmark the only side to progress past the group phase despite scoring less than a goal per game.
They are so heavily reliant on Christian Eriksen, who has scored one and assisted the other of his side’s two goals thus far, while Croatia have a superb amount of depth by comparison, particularly in midfield.
The Tottenham man will need to be at his very best then, coming up against Ivan Rakitic and former Spurs star Luka Modric, both of whom have excelled to this point.
It’s the latter that is given more freedom to attack at international level, with two goals thus far and five chances created, so it will be up to Denmark’s midfield destroyer Thomas Delaney to do the work of two men if Eriksen is to have the chance to focus on picking the lock in Croatia’s defence.
Marcelo Brozovic will sit deepest for Zlatko Dalic’s side having impressed since moving into a more withdrawn role at Inter, and it’s the middle ground where this game will be won and lost.
There’s no doubt Denmark will look to soak up pressure and counter, restricting the space for midfield runners by congesting centre of the pitch, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen start in midfield once more to add some steel in the absence of William Kvist.
If so, this could be a real test of Croatia’s patience and prospects moving forwards, though it is Dalic’s men who should do just that.
