Rijeka vs Slaven Belupo Prediction: Rijeka simply must win this match

On Sunday, starting at 19:10 at Rujevica, the third-placed Rijeka and penultimate Slaven Belupo close the 18th round of the SuperSport HNL. With a win here Rijeka can get back to 2nd place and reduce the gap to the leader Hajduk. Slaven Belupo are far from the relegation zone, but points are very important for them too. Matches between these teams are always unpredictable and interesting which we saw last season when Slaven Belupo won twice in this stadium.

Form: WDWDD

The last time Rijeka lost in the HNL was at the end of the eighth month and they are currently on a streak of 11 consecutive championship rounds without defeat. With two games less than the leaders Hajduk, they are currently in third place, and this season they are still undefeated at home in Rujevica. Special praise should be given to their performance after the representative break. Namely, Rijeka played without several key players, but they still managed to celebrate against Varazdin and take a point against Osijek, while they also were successful in the cup match with Cibalia. Key midfielder Lindon Selahi, who does not want to extend his contract and was sent to the stands, will be absent for this match, but even without him, Rijeka have enough arsenal to ensure the expected celebration against Slaven Belupo.

Form: LWWDL

Slaven Belupo and coach Roy Ferencina had a great start to the continuation of the championship after the representative break with a 3:1 celebration against Lokomotiva, but after that, they had an impossible task against a recovered Dinamo, who with a routine game and a 2:0 celebration took all three points from Koprivnica. The ungrateful schedule for the Pharmaceutics continues in this round, as well as in the next round in which they visit Osijek. It will be difficult to get points at Rujevica and Opus Arena, but if they are underestimated, they can always be dangerous. Zeljko Sopic and his Rijeka will certainly not underestimate them, so today I expect a routine win for the hosts. 

Rijeka are on an incredible streak that should continue today. They play very well in defense, which is statistically the second-best in the league behind Hajduk, while Slaven improved their defense under the manager Ferencina, so I expect a careful approach from both teams, but the individual talents and quality are on Rijeka’s side and I believe that it will be something that will make a difference in this match.