After two weeks, national league football is back.

Lokomotiva – Slaven Belupo

The upcoming match is expected to be challenging as both teams are playing Dutch 4231 football with a focus on quickness and transitional play. Since Ferenčina took over Belupo’s side, they have stabilised defensively and standardised the team. It will be interesting to see who dominates the pitch, as both coaches have similar football ideas. They both aim for solid defensive play, with two pivot midfielders playing as number six players, while up front, they prefer simple, quick, and direct play.

Lokomotiva’s coach Čabraja may doubt the starting eleven due to some players returning from national team obligations, such as Čavlina, Živković Fetai and Smakaj, and fast winger Šotićek returning from injury.

On the other hand, Slaven Belupo’s coach has all crucial players available after the international break, with the only question being whether to put on the right midfielder, Liber, who is known to play mainly on the wing this season, or the youngster Šakota.

Game lineups could be as follows:

It will be interesting to see individual duels between winger Hoxha and fullback Bartolec and how will Božić and Boras cope with Tuci, especially given Tuci’s good form in the last few games.

Rijeka – Varaždin

Last week, several players from Rijeka had national selection obligations, including Labrović, Pjaca (who came back injured and is out for this game), Ivanović, Pašalić (who is also out due to yellow cards), Ivanović and Banda. Additionally, Goda is out due to a shoulder injury. On the Varaždin team, Mitrovski and Elezi had international obligations, while two crucial attackers, Brodić, were injured, and Marina was out due to yellow cards.

It will be interesting to see how Sopić adapts the team with Pjaca’s injury and Pašalić’s card suspension. Janković may go on the left-wing position, Grgić or Yansane will take the right-wing place, and Banda will play midfield. Čabraja will probably play at left fullback, as he had already come in for Goda in the last leg game against Dinamo. With all these substitutions and rotations, it is expected that Rijeka will not be as direct and fast on breaks as in previous games.

Varaždin will likely play an open game with many passing dynamics, which is the club’s style, especially under coach Kovačić. Pilj is good on the ball and is a creative player who is back from card suspension, which means more creation in midfield. However, Marina, a defensive midfielder, is out for yellow cards. Postonjski will probably take the number six position, and Pilj and Elezi will be the two eights in 4-3-3.

Possible lineups:

It will be interesting to see how well the defenders and midfielders of Varaždin deal with Rijeka’s pressing and quick transitions when Varaždin’s back line is high up the pitch.

It is also worth noting that Varaždin may struggle to compensate for the reduced effectiveness of Brodić in scoring chances after his absence due to injury. Additionally, Šego is still searching for form after returning from his injury, and Domjanić is a young player and the club’s prospect for future times.

On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if Rijeka’s roster depth allows them to compensate for the absence of Pjaca and Pašalić on the wings.

Dinamo – Osijek

It is this round derby game. Both teams are not meeting this season’s result expectations. Dinamo’s coach, Jakirović, is under more pressure, and results are imperative. He gave several interviews this week, trying to hide his nervousness, but from his words, it is evident that he is under tremendous pressure.

Jakirović is facing difficulties defining Dinamo’s starting lineup and establishing a playing style that suits the team. After three months of his leadership, the team’s hierarchy and playing mechanisms are still unclear. Although Dinamo has the best players and the highest budget, their league table position is below expectations. Jakirović is under enormous pressure to turn things around in the next game; otherwise, his time at the club may be up.

According to the club’s information, several players are unavailable for the upcoming game. Špikić has injury issues, Perković is returning from an injury, Perić has a cold, and Ristovski and Kulenović are out due to yellow cards. Additionally, Ademi’s playing time may be restricted due to contract limitations, as exceeding 35 minutes per game would require Dinamo to pay bonuses to his ex-club.

During a press conference, Jakirović mentioned that Petković is fully fit and could play part of the game, which would significantly reinforce Dinamo. Despite the absence of several players, Dinamo has a roster deep enough to compete at the Croatian league level with extra quality players at their disposal.

Zekić’s team is in a similar result crisis, but expectations from Osijek are a lot lower. The club’s press conference informed the public that Jugović was slightly injured and that Caktaš wasn’t in full training due to some cold.

It’s difficult to predict which starting system Osijek will use due to Zekić’s system-changing management style, which adapts to opponents’ playing styles. In the last two rounds, Osijek played 5-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 against Hajduk, then 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-1-2 against Lokomotiva. Both times, Zekić could read the game well and make substitutions, changing the team’s shape and playing style at halftime, and the team responded positively on both occasions. Although the improvement in play was noticeable, unfortunately, the team did not secure a victory.

Jakirović will probably start 4231 or 433, transforming into 4123 in the attacking phase.

Posible Osijek line ups durong match:

Posible Dinamo’s starting line up:

It will be intriguing to observe the strategic plans of both coaches and their in-game adjustments.

Istra 1961 – Hajduk

An exciting match should be played at Aldo Drosina stadium. According to the information, the stadium should be full, with over 5.000 Hajduk fans.

Istra has traditionally been a tough opponent for Hajduk. Last season, under their ex-coach Garcia, they played possession-oriented games with a standardized midfield trio of Petrusenko, Casseres, and Mlinar. They finished in 5th position on the league table.

After Garcia left the club, Karoglan became the new manager for the current season. He was introduced as a coach who shares a similar mindset with Garcia, in order to maintain the club’s identity. However, Karoglan’s tenure only lasted for three rounds due to poor team performances and morale, forcing him to leave the club early.

The current manager, Catala, has taken over the team and is known to be a more pragmatic coach compared to his predecessor, Karoglan. In a recent match against Hajduk on Poljud, where Hajduk’s coach was Leko, Catala’s team won by scoring in the final minutes through a counterattack. Although the Istra team can dominate possession, they now do so more pragmatically, utilizing possession as one of their weapons instead of relying on it solely.

Hajduk, as the league table leaders, is eagerly anticipating their next game in a positive atmosphere. After taking over the coaching position from Leko, Karlogan focused on building up team spirit and boosting their self-confidence. While Leko had a good defensive structure, the team struggled with creating scoring opportunities. Karoglan continued with some of Leko’s ideas and implemented some of his own tactics. Although the team’s offensive structure may appear chaotic at times, it just needs more time to develop. The most important thing is that Karlogan’s strategies have improved the team’s results, resulting in more wins. While they may look disorganized at times, especially in the second half of the games, they have consistently managed to win.

In the last match against Varaždine, Hajduk’s offensive structure was solid throughout 90 minutes. A possible reason for their recent success under Karoglan could be attributed to Pukštas’s recovery from injury. The young player has regained his form, providing Hajduk’s midfield stability and posing a constant threat to the opposing defence through his runs into the box, crosses and scoring abilities.

Hajduk, without any significant player absence for this match, Istra is missing defender Majsrorović due to a red card suspension.

In the upcoming match, Istra is expected to adopt a more pragmatic and defensive approach by fielding three quick forwards, namely Lisica, Erceg, and Vuk, upfront. Their focus will be more on counterattacks. In their previous game against Rudeš, they won comprehensively with a 4-0 scoreline. In that match, they displayed a lot of aggression and executed fast and direct attacks. Erceg scored twice, Vuk scored once, and Lisica made two assists.

It is expected that Hajduk will play with their standardized team, featuring a v-shaped midfield formation. Žaper will play as the defensive midfielder, while Pukštaš and Krovinović will take up the position of the two number eights. Benrahou will most likely play in an offensive midfield position, contributing to the midfield creation from the flank and leaving space for Sigur, who is expected to start as the right fullback.

Hajduk is expected to dominate possession in the upcoming gamea gainst Istra’s low-block strategy. They will aim to create chances by playing many third-player actions with well-placed balls in the middle regions and on the flanks. It will be interesting to see how Hajduk’s fullbacks, Diallo and Sigur, take advantage of Istra’s flanks with overlapping runs. Istra may have periods where they control the tempo through possession, but in this game, their control is expected to be limited. How the game will unfold on the field remains to be seen.

Gorica – Rudeš

The final game of matchday 16 will feature Gorica, the second-best defensive team in the league, playing against Rudeš, the team at the bottom of the league table. Rudeš has scored the fewest goals in the league, conceded the most goals, and has changed coaches twice (Prosinečki and Golem) before appointing Ivan Mijač as their third coach last week.

Jeličić took over the Gorica team from Sopić and continued to maintain a solid defensive structure with Pršir and either Mrzljak or Soldo as defensive midfielders behind Ndockit in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Unfortunately, this week, Ndockit suffered a severe muscle avulsion of his adductor muscle tendon, which will keep him out of play for an extended period. As a result, Jeličić will likely change his midfield shape, possibly shifting to a 4-3-3 formation or moving Pršir into an attacking midfield role ahead of Mrzljak and Soldo.

It will be interesting to see whether Jeličić will reinstate his preferred defensive duo of Maloča and Krizmanić or if he will retain Leš in the team. In the previous round, despite the absence of Maloča and Krizmanić, Leš performed well in a goalless draw against Belupo. The defence looked stable and solid, with Mrzljak and Leš stepping up as defenders.

It’s difficult to predict how Rudeš will play due to the new coach and recent poor results.

Everything except Gorica’s victory would be a great surprise.