Rijeka vs Dinamo Zagreb Prediction: Believe it or not, Rijeka are favorite in this derby

In the derby of the 15th round of the SuperSport HNL on Sunday, starting at 9:00 p.m., Rijeka will welcome Dinamo Zagreb in legendary stadium Rujevica in a match that is "to be or not to be" for the current champion. Sergej Jakirovic's team are in an unprecedented crisis with only three wins in the last eight games. This is a statistic that no coach would have survived on Dinamo's bench before, but the club stood behind Jakirovic, whom they believe can lead the team out of the crisis. Rijeka did not look better for a long time, Dinamo did not look weaker for a long time, so, given the circumstances, Rijeka's victory would not be too much of a surprise. Although they are in a bad state, in Dinamo, clearly, no one is thinking about defeat.

Form: DWDDW

Rijeka are currently in euphoria under the leadership of coach Zeljko Sopic. They are still undefeated at home this season, while they are currently on a streak of eight consecutive league rounds without defeat. They are in the second position with a game less and three points behind the leader Hajduk, so they need a win today to maintain their connection before the new break. Rijeka looks great this season with the potential to win the title, especially after the arrival of Marko Pjaca, who strengthened the already wide and high-quality roster. They already played with Dinamo this season at Maksimir when they were defeated 2:1, but this Sunday we should witness a completely different game in which Rijeka justifiably enters as the favorite. 

Form: LDWWL

The struggles for the current champion continued in Europe a few days ago at Viktorija Plzen, where they deservedly lost 1:0 with several very dubious refereeing decisions. We have the impression that coach Sergej Jakirovic knows the job, but there is simply not enough quality in the players to do what he wants on the field. Dinamo sold several key players this summer, in the meantime their captain and best player Bruno Petkovic was injured, while the new players are far below the expected level. All this resulted in very bad results, so we have the impression that even the famous Jose Mourinho would not help Dinamo on the bench at this moment. Recently, Dinamo's coach has been trying all possible rotations in all positions, but he is unable to find a winning formula. He changed central defenders, he changed wings and forwards, and his team could not get into a series of good results, probably until he could count on the best player, Bruno Petkovic.

The derby with Rijeka comes at the worst moment for Dinamo. There is still no Bruno Petkovic, Dinamo arrives in Rijeka after a dramatic defeat against Viktorija Plzen in the Conference League, they struggle against all opponents, and even when they play well, like in Varazdin, they are not lucky to win. This is to be or not to be a match for Dinamo in hot Rujevica, where the former coach of Rijeka Jakirovic will surely be welcomed "with a knife". At the moment, Dinamo are suffering from bad form and a quality deficit in the squad after the summer sale, while Rijeka are at its peak, so we boldly decided on the option of a home win against the barren and weak current champion.