Croatia - Brazil

Michael Oliver shows more yellow cards per game in this championship - 6.50 each. The two-match sample is statistically too small, so you don't need to look too hard at this number. Perhaps a bit more interesting is the overall card average this season, and here the Englishman shows an average of 3.25 yellow cards in 12 England "Premier League" matches. The average of all competitions this season, in which M. Oliveris whistled, is 4.05.

Croatia's yellow card average in this championship is just one card. Brazil only 0.75. However, the importance of the match and the style of play should be a factor here. Croatia will have to play hard, and first goals will be very important here. If the Croatians keep a clean sheet in the first period, there will be over tension and contact in the match. I expect something similar to the first round match between Brazil and Serbia. The Serbs collected three yellow cards in 64 minutes, and the game itself was very comfortable even for a larger number of yellow cards. The Croatians aren't the fastest, so I think that in a competition of this importance, quick attacks will often be cut short by the brave yellow card.

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