Slaven Belupo vs Rijeka Prediction: Can Rijeka get all 3 points?

Rijeka will be the guest of Slaven Belupo tomorrow (7:30 p.m.) in Koprivnica, as part of the 9th round of the SuperSport HNL. Their manager is aware of the importance of this match, a victory would almost certainly leave Rijeka in first place in the first league standings after the quarter of the championship, the last time Rijeka managed to do that was in that historic, championship season. In the last round, Rijeka drew with Hajduk, and now their coach Radomir Djalovic expects to return to victories, regardless of the problems in the squad, while the hosts lost unfortunately in the last round and now want redemption.

Form: LWLWL

Mario Kovacevic is facing the fifth game since he became the manager of Slaven Belupo. In his debut, he celebrated against Kustosija in the Cup, then recorded a minimal defeat against Osijek at the Opus Arena, and then on September 21, Slaven Belupo defeated Dinamo 4-1, which is one of their biggest victories in the last few years. In the last round, against Gorica, Slaven were defeated by a goal from Slogar deep in stoppage time after Ivan Susak "gifted" the ball to the hosts. Although that goal goes directly to his soul, Susak enjoyed his trust from the beginning of the new coach's mandate, so he is expected to be in goal again this Saturday when Rijeka comes to this stadium. Ilija Nestorovski returned to the home team after a problem with his calf, while Caimacov (cards) and Leskovic (recovering) will not be available to the home strategist. What everyone is interested in is the state of the pitch after heavy rains in this part of Croatia for several days. 

Form: DWWWD

Rijeka conceded only one goal in eight games, which is the first time since 2011, and the defense of Dinamo which conceded only one goal in so many rounds. Playing away against Slaven Belupo have always been difficult for Rijeka. However, they have 3 matches in a row in this stadium, and considering their form and motivation, that streak is going to continue. In the previous round, Rijeka played a draw against Hajduk in the big Adriatic derby. A win in this match will mean a lot to them, as they will probably be in the 1st place before the break for the international matches.

In their last 5 matches, Rijeka have won 4 times, while Slaven Belupo only once. Now this will be a match between 1st placed and perhaps the best team in the league right now against the last-placed, worst team in HNL. Slaven Belupo’s only win this season was against Dinamo, but in that period, Dinamo were without a manager. In this match, I expect a very defensive-oriented formation by the hosts, more space and attacks from the guests, and in the end their win. I expect Rijeka to score several goals against weak Belupo’s defense.