Hajduk Split vs Osijek Prediction: Can Osijek surprise Hajduk?

Two derbies are being played in the 23rd round of the SuperSport HNL, with the first scheduled at Poljud on Saturday, February 22 at 5 p.m. The guests from Osijek are not coming in the best mood, having lost their last two games (Gorica and Rijeka), and in the middle of the week, coach Federico Coppitelli dropped Hernani and Kemal Ademi from the team until the end of the season. In the current season, Hajduk beat Osijek at Poljud in August last year (1:0), while the match at Opus Arena in November ended in a draw (2:2). The Whites' coach Gennaro Gattuso cannot count on Niko Sigur in the duel against Osijek due to yellow cards. The victory is very important for each team, so I expect a true derby match with a lot of tension in Split this Saturday.

Hajduk Split

Form: DWLDL

Hajduk are second in the table with 41 points, one less than the leading Rijeka and three more than third-placed Dinamo. Hajduk alongside Rijeka showed the most in Croatian League. They have a very high level of individual quality and very good game organization. In the second half of the season, the team from Split team beat Varazdin (1:0), drew with Slaven Belupo (0:0) and Istra (1:1), and lost to Lokomotiva (3:2). Coach Gennaro Gattuso in Pula, where his team faltered against the eighth club in the HNL, could not count on defender Dominik Prpic. One of Hajduk's most important players missed that match due to three accumulated yellow cards. He will be back in the squad for the match against Osijek. Besides the bad result in the previous round, Hajduk are still a slight favorite in this match against Osijek, and for me, Hajduk are the main favorite to win the league in the end, they have all that is needed for it, but Gattuso will have to boost the confidence of this team.

Osijek

Form: LLWDD

Osijek are a team that strives for possession and building attacks from the defenders forward with short passes or attacking from the flanks and crosses. Coach Coppitelli began to insist on such a style and reduced long passes to the lowest number per game in the league. Osijek are the fourth team in the league in terms of possession, two places below Hajduk, and they are fifth in terms of successful crosses, also two places below Hajduk. Behind Osijek is, again, a turbulent period. Federico Coppitelli's team has suffered two championship defeats (Gorica, Rijeka) in which they failed to score. In addition to all this, Coppitelli has dropped Kemal Ademi and Jorge Fortes Hernani from the team because they weren’t disciplined.

Expert Betting Tips

Of course, according to bookmakers Hajduk Split are the favorite in this duel, but it’s a derby between two very quality teams, and I expect a difficult match. Both teams are performing below their level, Osijek have only a win in their last five matches in the league while Hajduk have two. Their last match ended 2:2, and I expect a similar, exciting, and interesting match again. I expect Hajduk to win in the end, and even though Osijek haven’t scored in two matches in a row in the league, I think that in this match both teams will score at least a goal each.

Our prediction for the match is for both teams to score for the odds of 1.9 at 1xbet.

Our second prediction home win and over 2.5 for odds of 2.7 at Betway.

Our third prediction – correct score 2:1 for odds of 8.5 at Bet365.