Rijeka vs Hajduk Split Prediction: Big derby in Rijeka

The current derby between Rijeka and Hajduk will be the 104th consecutive league match since HNL and all its earlier versions have been played. Of course, the history of the two rivals from the Adriatic is much longer, and even that historical rivalry, not to mention animosity, started way back in 1987, when Hajduk and Rijeka met in the final of the Cup of the former state in Belgrade. Sparks fly every so often on the field when it comes to these two teams, not to mention in the stands, so there is no doubt that this Adriatic derby will be specific, especially because of the big role and the huge psychological, but also result advantage in the fight for the championship title.

Rijeka

Form: DDWWW

Radomir Djalovic has been through a lot since coming to Rijeka's bench, but he overcame all the troubles and left his team in the fight for the title. There are still 11 exams left, and the next one is Hajduk in Rujevica. The home team, led by Radomir Djalovic, managed to knock Hajduk out of the Cup, but then failed in the championship against Sibenik and thus allowed Hajduk to return to first place. Now they must pursue a new triumph, so that the situation does not go completely to the side of the Adriatic rival. Rijeka are known as a solid and well-organized team, with several quality individuals in each of their lines. It is worth singling out Toni Fruko, who proved to be extremely useful since Djalovic pushed him more forward. That's why he made it all the way to the Croatian national team.

Hajduk Split

Form: WDLWD

Seven games of the second half season of HNL have passed, Hajduk achieved three victories (Varazdin, Osijek, Gorica), three draws (Slaven Belupo, Istra 1961 and Dinamo) and a defeat (Lokomotiva). For the title, they will need more, a few good results in a row, but a win against a direct competitor would help a lot. Hajduk, led by Gennaro Gattuso, seems rather unconvincing at times, but in important games, as a rule, they play well. They confirmed it in the derby against Dinamo, where they stood quite well on the field and deservedly won a point in the end. Now the team from Split want to remain undefeated in Rijeka as well, which would bring them even closer to the championship title that the club have been waiting for 20 years. Marko Livaja has had problems with injuries this season, but he should lead the team in this game. The captain of Hajduk can always push the team forward with his moves, so he is key in Gattuso's concept of the game.

Expert Betting Tips

Although in the last few years Rijeka almost regularly provides great games at Poljud, they are still more successful as hosts. In the 52 games played in Rijeka so far, both at Kantrida and Rujevica, the Whites have 21 victories, 13 matches ended in a draw, while Hajduk stopped at 18 victories. If we only look at the last 10 matches played at Rujevica, the fact that Hajduk have more wins (5) than the home team (4) with only one draw, the last one from September last year, sounds alarming, but Rijeka, on the other hand, can take comfort in the fact that they have won in three of the last four matches and that Hajduk have not won at Rujevica since October 2022. In this match, bookmakers decided to declare Rijeka the favorite, which was not the case in previous matches between these rivals. I don't really agree with that. I believe that Gattuso's team can play completely equally with Rijeka, which they confirmed in the last two championship games that ended in a draw. I expect the team from Split to remain in first place and remain undefeated in Sunday’s derby.

Our prediction for the match is first half – a draw for the odds of 1.95 at Bet365.

Our second prediction is an away win for odds of 3.45 at Betway.

Our third prediction is correct score 0:1 for odds of 7.5 at 1xbet.