Lokomotiv Zagreb and Osijek meet at Stadion Kranjčevićeva, in a match for the 17th round of 1. HNL. In the last head-to-head for this edition of the league, on 04‑11‑2020, Osijek won at home by (2‑1). In this stadium, the history of direct confrontations is favorable to the visiting team, which registers 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses in the last 9 matches. In fact, the last time these two teams played a match at this stadium was on 07‑06‑2020, for 1. HNL, which ended with the victory of Osijek by (0‑1). The only goal of the match was scored by P. Bočkaj (22 ‘). Despite being a match between 8th and 2nd in the table, it is actually a confrontation between the 5th ranked in home games and the 3rd away.
Lokomotiv :
The home team is currently in 8th position, with 12 points won, after 2 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. In the penultimate match, they tied in an away match against HNK Gorica, by (1‑1). In the last match, they won at home against Slaven Koprivnica by (2‑1). This is a team that tends to be more competitive at home, since they won 9 points in their stadium, where they scored 8 goals and suffered 8, against only 3 points away, with 5 goals scored and 14 suffered. For the championship, Lokomotiv Zagreb won 9 points out of a possible 21, after 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in the last 7 games they played in their stadium. Their defense has not been very strong, since they have suffered goals in 8 of the last 10 matches, but their offense has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 7 of the last 10 matches for this competition. This is a team that has had difficulties in opening the scoring and only managed to score the first goal once in the last 14 games for 1. HNL. In 14 games in this competition, he only managed 1 comeback in the 11 games in which he conceded the first goal.
Despite having won in the last match before the competitive break, Lokomotiva’s campaign is worrying. The team is simply not in the relegation playoff zone due to the tiebreaker criteria, which makes it clear that some changes need to happen. It all depends on himself and what he is going to do in the field and he hopes to present something different. The day will be very difficult, so you will have to innovate to win.
Osijek:
After 10 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses, the visiting team is currently in 2nd position, with 33 points won. In their last match, they beat Šibenik at home by (1‑0), after losing away in the previous match, in a match against HNK Gorica, by (4‑1). This is a team little affected by the home factor, since they achieved similar results at home and abroad. The team comes to this match after a draw at home against Fehérvár by (2‑2). For the championship, Osijek won 14 points out of a possible 24, after 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in the last 8 away games. In their home league matches the most frequent final result at half ‑ time was 0‑0 (3 out of 8 matches). His attack has scored regularly, as he has scored at least one goal in each of the last 10 matches for this competition. In their home matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 5 of the last 8 matches for this competition have ended with Under 2,5 goals. In 16 games in this competition, he only managed 1 comeback in the 5 games in which he suffered the first goal.
Osijek are fighting directly for the leadership of the Croatian league and they know they cannot lose points in games like this. You certainly have to respect your rival, but you can’t help but go in search of victory. He has the favoritism and has to do his best to turn it into three points. It depends on himself and if he shows the football that he knows how to play, it will not be a surprise if he wins.
