Hajduk Split vs Istra 1961 Prediction: Hajduk are in a must-win situation!

During an unprecedented scandal, changes, pressures, and threats in Croatian football, SuperSport HNL returns on Saturday. After stumbling in the last round against Varazdin, Hajduk are looking for redemption and a victory against Istra 1961, with which they would temporarily return to first place in the ranking. In announcing the match, Mislav Karoglan, Hajduk’s manager remained calm and focused on football issues and believes in victory. Istra, on the other hand, will try to surprise their main local rival and get a positive result in this local derby in Croatia.

Form: WDWWD

Some Hajduk players are questionable for Saturday's game. Lovre Kalinic skipped the cup match last week, Nikola Kalinic did not participate in the previous three games, and Zvonimir Sarlija left Poljud in the first half against Varazdin due to a groin injury. Nevertheless, Hajduk must find a way to win against Istra in front of their fans, and even though they failed to win against Varazdin in the last round, they showed character and strength in the cup match against the same opponent and won 5:0 last week. Hajduk are in 2nd place with 49 points, a point less than Rijeka, and 2 more than Dinamo Zagreb.

Form: WDWLW

Istra 1961 remained undefeated in their last three visits to Split. They drew twice and won 0:1 in September. Before that, Hajduk had a streak of 15 consecutive victories against the team from Pula at Poljud, and in the last five games played in Pula or Split, the Whites won only once. This season Istra struggles a lot, and they are not the same team as they were last season. They changed manager and have had some good results lately, but they still have troubles when playing much stronger opponents, especially in away matches. Istra are in 9th place with 25 points, and they are undefeated in their last 3 matches in the league.

Hajduk did not win against Istra in Poljud for three games in a row, the last victory (3:1) dates back to May 14, 2022. The coach was Valdas Dambrauskas, and later Karoglan and Leko tried to beat Istra (twice), but they only took two out of a possible nine points. In the 2022/23 season, Hajduk played two identical draws with Istria (2:2), and last fall the Whites were defeated 0:1. In the last victory, Livaja scored two goals (both from penalties), while Krovinovic scored one goal. On the other side, the only scorer was Mahmoud, who after scoring the lead was sent off at the end of the first half. White won with a player more. Interestingly, that match ended a streak of 15 consecutive victories for the Whites against Istria in Poljud. Now Hajduk are under big pressure to perform well and get all 3 points which I believe they are capable of, and I expect Hajduk to win confidently as they did in the Cup last week.