Hajduk Split vs Osijek Prediction: Will Hajduk finally win?

The derby matches continue this spring in HNL, with Hajduk in the lead role. Osijek are coming to Split this Sunday, which means that we will be watching a duel between the third and fourth-ranked teams. The team from Split lived through a turbulent week, in which they changed president Luksa Jakobusic and coach Mislav Karoglan. In this match, Jure Ivankovic will take over the bench and should lead the team until the end of the season, but you never know with Hajduk. 

Form: LLLDL

After the first part of the season, it seemed that the team from Split would win the title after 19 years of waiting. However, unfortunately for their fans, the Hajduk team simply "disintegrated". And that at the very moment when Perisic and Brekalo arrived at the club, and when the euphoria was at its maximum. Hajduk achieved their last victory on March 16, 2024, against Gorica 3:0 away, and then real "hell" followed. The crisis started with a shocking defeat against Lokomotiva 2:1 at home, and the entire situation that Hajduk found could best be seen by the way Marko Livaja took the penalty kick when his team was losing 1:0. Two defeats against Dinamo followed (championship and cup), and all dreams of a magical comeback were crushed by Rijeka in the last round. Mislav Karoglan left the club (it was expected after the defeat against Lokomotiva), so we should probably see the reaction of the home team's players. Perisic slowly got into shape, and this time he could very easily be the much-needed "X factor" that Hajduk lacked in the past period. 

Form: WWLLL

The first part of the season showed that this time Osijek will not compete with Rijeka, Hajduk, and Dinamo in the battle for the trophy. Many matches in which the guests easily lost points "defined" their goals this season, so it should not be surprising that Osijek 7 rounds before the end of the championship are without any real chances to get to third place and qualification for the Conference League. Only 4 wins in 14 away matches are simply not enough for the top of the table, and when we add to that the fact that Osijek are conceding almost 2 goals per game on average this season, it is clear why bookmakers give the home team the epithet of favorites, and that even though Hajduk are in a serious crisis. On the other hand, Osijek have two victories in a row. After the expected "difficult" 1:0 against Slaven Belupo, Osijek defeated Rudes 3:2 in the last round. However, when you concede 2 goals from the weakest team in the league, it's a clear sign that your defense has huge holes, which even this kind of Hajduk could easily punish. So, if Osijek plays "openly" as usually the "wounded" Hajduk could take advantage of that more easily than expected. 

We have seen many times that teams react after a change "on the bench", and we think that will be the case this time as well. Hajduk are in crisis and seems wounded, but over 30,000 fans in Poljud should not be underestimated. Osijek are in better shape, but we also have to say that the guests outside their stadium have big defensive problems. Therefore, if the players of Hajduk start concentrated and focused from the first minute, I think that this crisis could be a thing of the past after the first 45 minutes. It's time for Hajduk to play a game in accordance with their quality. I expect an interesting and dynamic match, and goals above all.