The final group stage qualifying matchday for Croatia and Russia as they go head to head in the battle for a direct ticket to the World Cup in Qatar.

The premise could not be more simple - hosts need only a win, Russia must not lose to ensure a 1st place finish in the group.

I’d like to touch on my home team mainly as I am obviously well aware of what they are about now under a new manager Karpin. A reminder for those uninformed - Russians took down Cherchesov, who had a great 2018 World Cup and a very disappointing Euro’20, and assigned a “people’s manager” Karpin. He is not much a football coach but rather a highly popular media personality, loved by a vast majority of fans for being very down to earth, direct and cocky in many ways.

The Russian NT has gone really well in terms of results under Karpin and have yet to lose. 5-1-0 balance with a 13:1 goal difference - nothing short of impeccable record, on paper. In reality, the team hasn’t been convincing in any of the games, often being absolutely fortunate to get maximum points.

And I really do feel that the payback for all the luck should catch up in the key moment. There also some major squad issues for visitors ahead of the clash vs. Croatia.

Starting from the backline - central defender Dzhikiya is not 100% fit and had to miss the Cyprus 6-0 show; 2 left fullbacks Samoshnikov and his backup Terekhov are simultaneously injured; country’s leading right fullback Mario Fernandes decided to end his career with the National Team in September 2021; regular centre-mid Kuzyaev is also out for the same reason as well as wingers Zakharyan and Zhemaletdinov. The latter two have been enjoying great campaigns for their clubs. In every single compartment Russians are hurt and the left fullback zone is the one hit the most.

There is not a single area on the pitch where Croatians do not have a quality advantage over their today’s opponent. Even in terms of managers skills and experience Dalic definitely has the upper hand over Karpin, who has only worked at this level for 6 games.

The odds may be set about right, but this call is not about value - it’s about the team I expect to go directly to Qatar bypassing qualification play-offs. And that is Croatia.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

克罗地亚和俄罗斯的最后一个小组赛比赛日，他们将直接争夺卡塔尔世界杯的门票。

前提再简单不过了——东道主只要赢一场，俄罗斯队就一定不能输，以确保小组第一。

我想主要谈谈我的主队，因为我很清楚他们在新教练卡尔平的带领下是什么样子的。提醒那些不知情的人，俄罗斯人拿下了切尔切索夫，后者在2018年世界杯上表现出色，在20年欧洲杯上表现令人失望，俄罗斯人任命了一个“人民经理”卡尔平。他并不是一个真正的足球教练，而是一个非常受欢迎的媒体人物，因为在很多方面非常脚踏实地、直接和骄傲而受到绝大多数球迷的喜爱。

俄罗斯NT在卡尔平的领导下取得了很好的成绩，还没有失败。5-1-0的平衡和13:1的净胜球差-在纸上没有任何瑕疵的记录。在现实中，在任何一场比赛中都没有令人信服的表现，他们通常非常幸运地获得了最高分数。

我真的觉得所有的运气都应该在关键时刻得到回报。在对阵克罗地亚之前，客队也有一些主要的问题。

从后防线开始——中后卫德日基亚不是100%的健康，不得不错过了塞浦路斯6-0的比赛;两名左后卫萨莫什尼科夫和他的替补捷列霍夫同时受伤;国家队右后卫马里奥·费尔南德斯决定于2021年9月在国家队结束职业生涯;常规中卫库扎耶夫以及边锋扎哈里扬和热马列季诺夫也因为同样的原因缺阵。后两名球员一直在为他们的俱乐部效力。在每一节比赛中，俄罗斯人都受伤了，而左后卫区域受到的打击最大。

在球场上，克罗地亚人对今天的对手没有任何优势。即使在教练的技能和经验方面，达利克也绝对比卡尔平占优势，卡尔平只在这个级别打了6场比赛。

赔率可能是正确的，但这一判罚与价值无关，而是关乎我希望哪支球队跳过资格赛直接前往卡塔尔。