Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Slaven Belupo Prediction: Can Slaven surprise Lokomotiva?

The 'Lokos' gave everything, but Osijek were better. And in a direct duel for Europe, they won. The outcome of the last game is that Osijek escaped to plus four and, as things stand now, they will play in the Conference League next season. Of course, a European place would be a significant financial injection for Lokomotiva, which, therefore, will not surrender until the last round. One has to hope for a miracle, and after Dinamo’s win against Osijek, Silvio Cabraja's team must win against the 'pharmacists' in the 34th round. Then again there would be only one point behind 4th placed Osijek and then anything could happen until the end. Slaven Belupo on the other hand are totally relaxed in these last several rounds, as they are safe from relegation and far from the top.

Form: LWLWD

In the previous round Lokomotiva played maybe the most important match for them this season. The first part of the clash between contenders for the fourth place in the table ended without goals, with several opportunities for the home team, and one of the key moments was the sending off of Bartolec in the 59th minute. With one more player, in the 65th minute, Matkovic took advantage of a mistake by the Lokomotiva defense to make it 1:0, then Mierez made it 2:0 with a header, and in the 79th minute, Matkovic put the finishing touches again from close range, making it 3:0. In the 90th minute, Lokomotiva managed to mitigate the defeat through Soticek. With two rounds to go, Osijek have a four-point advantage over Lokomotiva, and they still have games against Rijeka and Varazdin. Lokomotiva have encounters with Slaven Belupo, Rudes, and Hajduk. 

Form: WLLWL

After five domestic defeats in a row, Slaven Belupo finally reached victory. In the last round, Gorica lost 4:1 at "Kusek Apas". Regardless of the three points won, the team from Koprivnica is still in ninth place in the SuperSport HNL, and the sixth-placed Varazdin is running away with six points. In a good atmosphere, the Pharmacists travel to Zagreb on Sunday, where they will try to beat Lokomotiva for the second time this season. 

Lokomotiva are certainly more motivated to win this match and reduce the gap between them and Osijek to 1 point. In the last match in this stadium in November Slaven Belupo won confidently 3:1, but the last match between them ended 3:2 for Lokomotiva as visitors. We can expect another match with many goals, and I think that Lokomotiva have enough quality and motivation to get all 3 points in front of their fans.