Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Hajduk Split Prediction: Hajduk are much better team than Lokomotiva

The first match of Hajduk away from Poljud in the domestic championship will give answers about the ambitions of the Split’s club for this season, the twentieth since the last title in the HNL Hajduk is a guest this Sunday in Kranjceviceva against Lokomotive at 7.30 p.m., and the game takes place between two meetings with Ruzomberok after the first in Slovakia played 0-0 and they are looking forward to the return match at Poljud on Thursday, and Hajduk have high hopes for that match as well.

Form: LDDLD

If, for example, we compare Lokomotiva's team with the beginning of last season 2023/24, the team from Kajzerica no longer has Luka Stojkovic, Lukas Kacavenda, Indrit Tuci, Ivan Milicevic... The manager Silvijo Cabraja, therefore, in 365 days, was left without literally the entire team, which, if it had remained together, would have been a legitimate candidate to attack on one of the "European" positions. In the first round, the Lokos suffered a heavy 0-4 defeat in Rujevica against the runners-up Rijeka, and now the “star-team” Hajduk with names like Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Marko Livaja will be their visitor, and Lokomotiva will have a difficult time stopping them.

Form: DWDWW

In the first round, Hajduk beat Slaven Belupo 2:1 in Poljud. Between the two rounds, Hajduk also played the first match of the qualification for the Conference League. In the third preliminary round, the match against Ruzomberok in Slovakia ended without goals, and the return match is in Poljud next Thursday. The evening before the visit to Zagreb, the news arrived that Gennaro Gattuso kicked out Ivan Perisic (35) for indiscipline. Perisic will not compete for the match against Lokomotiva, and it is not yet known when he will return to the squad. Perisic is not in the right form this season and that problem has been known for some time. He made four appearances and played 149 minutes, without any concrete effect.

Despite everything Hajduk Split are clear favorite in this match, and they are aware that points in this kind of match might be the most important in the end. Lokomotiva’s reality is to fight in the lower part of the table and avoid relegation. This is not the same team from last season that played great in the last few rounds, and we can expect Hajduk to win and get all 3 points in Zagreb.