National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Dinamo Zagreb or Rijeka that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Dinamo Zagreb form and stats
4 victories, 3 draws and 1 defeat. That’s what Dinamo Zagreb have to build on here at Stadion Maksimir in the 1. HNL. Dinamo have played two draws in a row on their own stadium.
A good away victory last time out for Dinamo, who won 2-1 against Sibenik. Midfielder Bruno Petković was the best player on the team with a rating of 7.62 (out of ten) in that game. Petković served one assist and hit two key passes.
Preceding that game was the home draw versus Genk that ended 1-1.The hosts are favourites to win this game, with an estimated chance of about 55-60% of that outcome. Earlier Dinamo Zagreb matches with similar probabilities have ended with two wins, one draw and one defeat (from four games).
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the 1. HNL game versus Hajduk Split in only four days. This game is also played here at Stadion Maksimir.
Goals decide football matches and Dinamo Zagreb are scoring many of them at home; 17 on target from 8 league matches. From these home matches, Dinamo have conceded only 7 goals.
Rijeka form and stats
Last season their Croatia Cup adventure ended in the semi-finals.The away team have been very comfortable on their travels so far, racking up 6 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss in the 1. HNL. Rijeka are enjoying a nice run from their away games now, having played seven in a row without losing.
It's the second away game in a row for Rijeka, but there's smiles all around after the 2-1 victory versus Slaven Koprivnica in the 1. HNL last time out. Martin Zlomislić was the team player of the game with the player rating of 7.81. The agile goalkeeper Zlomislić saved two (!) penalties and stopped the opponent with five saves.
Preceding that, the 2-3 home loss versus Hajduk Split.Looking at the earlier recent performances of Rijeka when being an outsider away as they are today, we find four matches with the visitors losing one time, drawing zero and winning three games.
The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting Hrvatski Dragovoljac in just three days.
Rijeka have scored more than twice on average per away game (in the league), an impressive attacking display. They have 22 goals from 9 away matches. Rijeka have conceded 14 goals in these games.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head numbers (for the prior ten meetings): Dinamo won four games, three matches ended with a tie and Rijeka have three wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: six / fourTop Goalscorers
  J. Drmic 13 goals |   B. Petković 5 goals |  R. Murić 4 goals |
Dinamo Zagreb missing players
Rijeka missing players
| Dinamo Zagreb | Rijeka | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 11 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 14 | 5 | Won | W | 9 | 16 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Drew | D | 4 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Lost | L | 1 | 4 | ||
| 52 | 19 | Scored | S | 39 | 64 | ||
| 24 | 7 | Conceded | C | 16 | 30 | ||
| 96% | 91% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 80% | 73% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 86% | 88% | ||
| 48% | 18% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 57% | 60% | ||
| 32% | 18% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 43% | 40% | ||
| 24% | 9% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 36% | 36% | ||
| 48% | 45% | BTTS | BTTS | 57% | 60% | ||
| 40% | 45% | Clean Sheets | C S | 36% | 32% | ||
| 16% | 18% | Failed to Score | F T | 7% | 8% | ||
| 5.2 | 6.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.6 | 5.3 | ||
| 4.6 | 3.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.9 | 5.1 | ||
| 1.4 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.4 | 2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 13.6 | 15 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11.4 | 11.6 | ||
| 5.4 | 6 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5.9 | 5.5 | ||
| 35% | 29% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 47% | 47% | ||
| 9 | 6.9 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11.5 | 10.8 | ||
| 3.3 | 2.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.6 | 4.2 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Osijek | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 34 |
| 2 | Rijeka | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 33 |
| 3 | Dinamo Zagreb | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 34 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 21 | 31 |
| 4 | Hajduk Split | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 30 |
| 5 | Gorica | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | -1 | 25 |
| 6 | Lokomotiva Zagreb | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 22 |
| 7 | Sibenik | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 24 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -4 | 18 |
| 8 | Istra 1961 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 36 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 19 | -16 | 15 |
| 9 | Slaven Koprivnica | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -12 | 13 |
| 10 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 17 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 40 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 24 | -26 | 7 |