Murray played Coric in Davis Cup two years ago, but the teenager has excelled since then, having achieved the biggest win of his career against Rafael Nadal at the Swiss Open last October to reach his first tour semi-final.
At 84 in the world, Coric is the youngest player in the top 100, and Murray is relishing taking on the Zagreb starlet.
"He's obviously one of the young guys who's going to continue to get better every week with experience," the World No 3 told the official tournament website.
"He's going to be making improvements in his game and realising the things he needs to work on if he wants to get to the top of the game. He'll be a tough opponent. He's had some good wins already against top players."
Murray was pleased with the way he maintained his concentration against frustrated opponent Sousa to record an emphatic 6-0 6-2 win.
"The beginning of the second set was a little bit tricky because he was starting to play a bit better and saved a few break points," he said.
"The first set went by very comfortably and then when someone starts to come back into it, that's when it's very important to concentrate on the correct tactics and the way that you're playing.
"Sometimes you go into a match thinking you have less chance of winning. For sure he got off to a very slow start and was very frustrated from even two games into the match, which is quite rare."
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