Istra 1961 vs Dinamo Zagreb Prediction: Will Istra surprise the Champion?

In the second round of the Croatian HNL, Istra welcomes the champion and the best team of the league, Dinamo Zagreb. Dinamo Zagreb started their title defense in the domestic championship in the worst possible way by losing at home to their main competitor. It is clear who is the favorite in this game, and an additional motive for Dinamo will be the fact that they were defeated in the opening game of this season and the fact that Istra won against them last season.

Form: DWLDD

Istria finished last season in fifth place, just three points behind Rijeka. Istri had everything in their hands, but two setbacks in the last two matches cost them dearly. They entered this season with small changes. Bakrar and Caseres, who were one of the most important players last season left the team. Bakrar was the team's second-best scorer with 8 goals, while Caseres was the team's best assister. They were active on the market and brought in a couple of very famous names, Bjorkander and Terrence Douglas stand out among them. They strengthened the defense with Moris Valincic, who arrives from Siroki Brijeg and was one of the best defenders in the BH League. The team's best player and scorer is Ante Erceg, who continued this season where he left off last year. In the draw against Lokomotiva Erceg was the scorer and brought a big point to this team.

Form: WLWDW

Dinamo Zagreb have a condensed schedule at the very start of the season. First, they won the Super Cup with a 1-0 victory against Hajduk and then lost to their angry rivals 2-1 at home in the opening game of the new season after leading 1-0. Last week, Dinamo did a lot of work in the first leg of the Champions League qualifiers, beating Kazakhstan's Astana 4-0 at home, which gives them a great situation ahead of the second leg.

Dinamo Zagreb remained without points after the first round of the 2023-24 season in the HNL. Despite the fact that it is clear that they are by far the strongest team in the championship, they must not allow themselves a bad start. The team from Pula won a point on the road to Zagreb against Lokomotiva and will now try to play another excellent game against Dinamo, against whom they have not lost in the last two games at home. Nevertheless, I think Dinamo will enter with full strength in this game, open the score early and easily win all three points.