Slaven Belupo vs Dinamo Zagreb Prediction: Who will do better in the cold Koprivnica?

Dinamo are visiting Slaven Belup in Koprivnica on Monday from 19:00. This match will conclude the 17th round of the SuperSport HNL, and Sergej Jakirovic's team will come to the Ivan Kusek-Apas stadium as a big favorite. However, they will be looking for the victory that everyone expects without four players. At least that's what Jakirovic announced in his statement before the match. Slaven Belupo will try to use it and the fact that Dinamo played a match in far Kazakhstan last week to surprise the champion.

Form: WWDLL

Slaven Belupo are playing below all expectations and abilities this season. However, in the last round, they won 3:1 against Lokomotiva in Zagreb, it was a huge win for them. Now they will face the better team from Zagreb, Dinamo with whom they have really bad h2h stats. Slaven Belupo are in 8th place with 17 points, 4 wins, 5 draws, and 7 defeats. In the last 5 matches in the league, they have a win, 2 draws and 2 defeats. They are huge underdogs in this match, so there isn’t big pressure on them before the match. 

Form: WWDLD

It's easier to breathe in Dinamo after the away game in distant Kazakhstan. Dinamo won 2-0 and came one step closer to the European spring, which was the main goal for this European season. They can take that step on December 14, when they will host Ballkani at their stadium in the last round of the Conference League. And a point is enough to qualify for the round of 16. Europe is on break for two weeks, and the Blues are now waiting to return to domestic reality. Hajduk are 12 points away in the standings, but with three games more. The current champion can reduce that gap when they visit Slaven Belupo.

Two consecutive victories for a better mood and a motive for the demanding end of the half-season. Dinamo, after celebrating in the derby against Osijek 2:1, got points in the Conference League by beating Astana away 2:0, and both of these games will serve as a great incentive ahead of the remaining challenges in the season. Slaven Belupo now are looking good under the new manager, but they are still far away from where they want to be. Dinamo are favorites in this match even though they travelled long way only few days ago. The conditions for playing aren’t very good but I expect Dinamo to take control of the match and to win in the end.