Croatia ace Dejan Lovren threatens to block ex-Liverpool pal Sturridge over Argentina prediction ahead of World Cup semi

DEJAN LOVREN joked he will “block” Daniel Sturridge’s calls after the ex-England striker made his World Cup semi-final predictions.

The pair know each other well from their time together at Liverpool.

Dejan Lovren has threatened to block Daniel Sturridge’s callsPA

Lovren has been superb at the back for Croatia in their World Cup runEPA

But Croatia defender Lovren, 33, has once again been left unhappy with Sturridge’s World Cup selections.

Sturridge, 33, tipped Croatia to lose in the last-16 against Japan, and again in the quarter-finals against Brazil.

Having been wrong on both occasions, Sturridge has now said on Instagram that he expects Croatia’s run to finally come to an end against Argentina.

But Lovren has aimed a hilarious dig at Sturridge for his prediction.

Commenting on Sturridge’s post, Lovren joked: “I will block your calls soon. See you later.”

Croatia take on Lionel Messi and Co tonight for a place in the World Cup final.

Lovren and Co go into the game as underdogs, but will fancy their chances of reaching the final for a second successive tournament.

Sturridge said: “Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, creating chances, dark arts, work rate.

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“Lionel Messi is phenomenal, Lautaro Martinez is an animal, Argentina is trouble. I’m going with Argentina.”

And Sturridge pointed out that picking Argentina could actually be a good sign for Croatia, thanks to his recent history with predictions.

He added: “Croatia fans, by now brates [brothers] you should be happy that I’m picking the other team.”

Fans seemed to agree with him, with one responding to his video: “So Croatia going to win then.”

Another added: “100% Croatia is winning this.”

And a third quipped: “Croatia should be happy he’s picking Argentina.”

Lovren is up against Lionel Messi in the World Cup semi-finalGetty