Dinamo Zagreb vs Hajduk Split Prediction: The biggest derby in Croatia

All eyes will be on Maksimir on Sunday at 05:00 p.m., where Dinamo will welcome Hajduk in the “Eternal Croatian Derby” as part of the 23rd round of the SuperSport HNL. This will be a specific derby, because the visitors enter it crippled by absences, but they still have enough to fight and make the match interesting. Dinamo enters the match with eight points more and a game less than Hajduk, and a possible victory of the defending champions would more or less end the fight for the championship title, while Hajduk will return in the title race with three points here.

Dinamo enters the new round in a good tone and at a high level. The last time they were defeated was by Chelsea in the Champions League, and as it was expected, as time goes on and the readiness of Dinamo's players grows, draws slowly turn into victories. We are afraid that Hajduk will not be able to withstand the current champion's pace this season, and in this match, they could suffer a new fatal blow after they have improved their form a little lately. With a possible three points, Dinamo would escape to an unattainable 11-point lead with a game less, which would have decided the title at the end of the second month of the year.

Dark forces have come over Hajduk before the big derby because they cannot count on a number of important players. Some have been injured before, while some are new to the absentee list. The most painful would be that of Marko Livaja, who is under question due to his temperature. Given that the visitors certainly do not have Borevkovic, Kalik, Elez, Grgic, Prpic, Awaziem and Lovre Kalinic in their lineup, the potential absence of the first star and the main scorer and the game holder would be fatal. This would reduce Hajduk's chances to a minimum, but looking at their first line-up without Livaja and all the aforementioned players, it seems to us that they have enough for 90 minutes with Dinamo to provide some resistance. It will still be difficult to get a point or points, and in the end the quality and wide roster of the home team should decide the game with at least one extra goal.

From time to time, the biggest Croatian derby offered a sterile performance, devoid of excitement. However, if the prerequisites ahead of the upcoming derby are taken into account, Sunday's match could satisfy even the most refined palates. It will be a clash of two attacking philosophies. Ante Cacic against Ivan Leko. Two, nominally, different systems, however, between the tactical lines, one can read that the primary goals of both strategists are scoring more goals.