Dinamo Zagreb vs Rijeka Prediction: Big HNL derby

The big HNL derby is ahead of us this Sunday, in which Dinamo and Rijeka will compete in Zagreb, teams hoping to win the championship title. The home team, led by coach Sergej Jakirovic, welcomes the game with a lot of confidence, after knocking Betis out of the Conference League on Thursday. It was a great triumph for the "blues" and proof that this team is not as vulnerable as it seemed in the opening games of 2024. The derby of the 24th round of the Supersport HNL will be played this Sunday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at Maksimir, where the third-placed Dinamo and the first-placed team of the league - Rijeka - will compete. Dinamo enters this match after an excellent game in the middle of the week where they reached the round of 16 of the Conference League, while Rijeka won 4-0 against Lokomotiva last weekend. 

Form: DWWDW

The defense of the Supersport HNL title this season is not going according to plan for Zagreb, where they are 6 points behind the first-placed Rijeka, with a game less. However, in the middle of the week, they managed to reach the round of 16 of the European Conference League, after drawing 1-1 against Betis at Maksimir. With that draw, they managed to preserve the minimal advantage they brought from Spain last week, and Dinamo's hero once again showed up in the form of Takura Kaneko, who equalized for Dinamo in the 59th minute. Betis took the lead in the 38th minute through Bakambu and at one-point things did not look good for Dinamo, but after Kaneko's goal, the crowd gave their contribution and pushed the team until the referee's final whistle. As far as the HNL is concerned, Dinamo have a record of 13 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses in 22 games played, and with 44 points, they are 5 points behind the second-placed Hajduk, while already this Sunday they can reduce the gap to only 3 points behind the leader Rijeka. 

Form: WWWWW

Currently, the leading team of the league played 23 games, where they collected 15 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses, which helped them reach a total of 50 points. Also, with 47 goals scored, they are the most efficient team in the league, which is certainly an additional wind behind them ahead of the difficult visit to Maksimir. The coach of Rijeka, Zeljko Sopic, stated in one of the powerful interviews before this match that they are going into this match for a victory, which would further facilitate their quest for the first championship title since 2017. These two teams have already met this season, in mid-November in Rujevica, where the points were shared with the result 2-2. The final result was set by Matej Mitrovic with a goal in the 89th minute, and we believe that everyone in the club would be looking forward to the same result in Maksimir. 

Dinamo must win in the domestic championship, because they are in third place, behind Rijeka and Hajduk. That is why this is one of the key matches for the Zagreb's club. This means that Bruno Petkovic will have to be in a special mood, as a player who brings additional quality to the Blues in attack. With a streak of five consecutive league victories in 2024, Rijeka meets Dinamo, which is slowly but surely raising its level of play. On the other hand, Dinamo will enter this match mentally and physically more exhausted, which gives Rijeka a great chance to score, while we believe that Dinamo will manage to find a way (at least once) inside Labrovic's net in front of their audience. I think this will be great derby match, with a lot of chances and goals on both sides.