Slaven Belupo vs Rijeka Prediction: Can Slaven Belupo stop Rijeka?

As time goes on, SuperSport HNL becomes more and more interesting, and visiting Koprivnica very often turned out to be very inconvenient for the favorites. We remember Dinamo’s defeat, which practically gave the title to Rijeka and the Hajduk’s draw. Now that visit awaits the leader of the championship, Rijeka, which traditionally do well in Koprivnica, but now they come under special pressure. 

Form: LLLDL

For the team from Koprivnica, the championship could already be over. They are only in 8th place out of ten teams in the league, but there is no danger to their status because only the last ranked team is eliminated. It is too late for a better result, there is nothing to do with the battle for European cups, so it can already be said that this team had a smooth sailing during the current season. Slaven Belupo have won only one point in the last five games in the championship. They were defeated four times and only drew with Istra. In the previous round, they visited the current champion Dinamo in Maksimir and in the end were convincingly defeated with 5:2. Now they will try to spoil the plans of the leader of the championship. 

Form: WWWLW

The team from Rujevica is leading in the championship race, but there is a lot left to play until the end and the big question is where the winner's cup will end up, whether in Rijeka or Split, or if it will stay in Zagreb. Three teams with equal chances enter the finish line, face-to-face clashes await them and, at least for that reason, they have to pay attention to matches with other rivals. One of the teams that do not have a special motive is Slaven, but that could be a challenge for Rijeka. In the eight matches played in the championship in 2024, Rijeka won 7 and only lost in Maksimir against Dinamo with a goal from the penalty spot in stoppage time. It could be a key detail from this season if Dinamo manages to defend the title in the end. 

In the last meeting between these two teams, Slaven won 2:4 in Rijeka and made a big surprise. However, in that match, Rijeka dominated the pitch, and Belupo punished them on the counter. The coach of Slaven believes that this time the presentation of his team on the field will be better, and the result will be the same. Rijeka are in excellent form, they beat Hajduk in Split and held their own quite well in Zagreb. They also win those games with so-called "small" clubs, but they often get points in a very difficult way. This is the third clash between these two teams in the current season, Rijeka won the first one in Koprivnica, but Slaven won in Rujevica when they won 4:2. Now we expect another win for the visitors, and many goals as it’s the case often between these teams.