Hajduk Split vs Dinamo Zagreb Prediction: A match that can decide the champion

The biggest derby in Croatian football is ahead, where Hajduk will host Dinamo in the derby match of the 28th round of the Supersport HNL. This is a match that could solve the question of the Croatian champions, where the winner of this match would get even closer to Rijeka at the top of the table. The duels between Hajduk and Dinamo are special, where the managers have to prepare their players with special psychological methods, above all to remain calm and concentrated. This match may be crucial because a draw is the most suitable for the first-placed Rijeka.

Form: DLWWW

During the winter break, Hajduk strengthened with sound and experienced players like Perisic, Kalinic and Brekalo, and with them and Marko Livaja will try to return the championship title to Split, which has been waiting for many years. But since the beginning of the spring part of the season, Hajduk have not been playing well and they have recorded two defeats at home. They were first defeated by Rijeka, and then in the last round by Lokomotiva. In the duel against Lokomotiva, Hajduk played with one less player from the 24th minute because Dino Mikanovic was sent off, which Lokomotiva took advantage of to win, and Hajduk further distanced themselves from the first-placed Rijeka. For coach Karoglan, this is one of the key matches of the season, and in order to stay in the race with first-placed Rijeka, they must win in front of the home fans. Hajduk have the best defense in the league with only 16 goals conceded and it will be very difficult for Dinamo to break the wall in front of Lucic. 

Form: WLWWD

Dinamo shifted their focus this spring to Europe, where they played very well. With the victory over Betis, they qualified for the round of 16 of the Conference League and achieved an excellent result against PAOK in the first match, winning 2:0. However, they were defeated convincingly 5:1 in Thessaloniki and ended their European tour. Now they will shift their focus to the domestic championship, where they are five points behind the first-placed Rijeka. In the last round before the representative break, they defeated the already written off Rudes with 0:3. Jakirovic has not yet won in the derby, and in the last three matches Dinamo scored only one goal against Hajduk. The team's best scorer is Bruno Petkovic, who scored nine goals this season, and has been playing in excellent form for a long part of the season. Petkovic scored two goals against PAOK, he also scored a key goal against Betis, and he was among the scorers at Maksimir in the first derby this season against Hajduk. 

In the last 5 meetings between these two teams, Hajduk have a slightly better ratio with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. The last meeting between them ended in a goalless draw, and was played in mid-December last year in Maksimir. Considering the stakes of this match, and the current form of both teams, I expect a fiery match in Split supported by even more fiery cheering. I believe that both teams will enter the match as aggressively as possible, even with their guard down, because victory is of greatest importance for both teams. That's why I decided to play for both teams to score.