Rijeka vs Rudes Prediction: Rijeka must start the season in a good way

Rudes managed to return to the strongest Croatian football league and already in the first round is going to a difficult away game in Rijeka. Rijeka had a lot of swings last season and now hopes for a much more successful start against a new team in the HNL. They were near the relegation zone after very bad start of the season, but at the second part of the season they were unstoppable. Rudes will of course not come up with a white flag and will try to have a successful return in the highest competition.

Form: WWWDW

Rijeka had a lot of ups and downs last season in the HNL. The beginning of the season brought early elimination from the qualification for European competitions, which led to great turbulence in the team and poor results in the first half of the season. After the World Cup, Rijeka woke up and finished the season in the upper half of the table. In the preparatory period, Rijeka won 5 out of 7 games and enters the season after three straight victories against Rogaska, Slaven Belupo, and Koper.

Form: LWDLD

Rudes finished at the top of the first football league table with a minimal advantage over Vukovar and returned to the HNL. The team brought in several reinforcements in the summer transfer window and seems capable of competing in the HNL. In the preparatory period, Rudes played three games. They beat Napredak 1-0, were defeated by Varazdin by the same score and played goalless draw against Gorica.

Rijeka successfully finished the last season and hopes to open the new season with a victory. Rijeka are certainly a much better team than Rudes and their main asset will once again be their defense. Rudes will not rush in this game and it is quite clear that they will focus on defense in an attempt to get at least a point in the first game of the season. This will make things much more difficult for Rijeka, but the home team is a much better team and will win and at least we will see over 1.5 goals in this match.