National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Gorica or Istra 1961 that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Gorica nor Istra 1961 as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Gorica form and stats
Last season their Croatia Cup adventure ended in the semi-finals.The complete 1. HNL statistics playing at home this season for Gorica are 2-3-3 (wins-draws-losses).
Happy days for Gorica in their previous game, a 1. HNL match away at Hrvatski Dragovoljac that ended with a 1-0 victory. Midfielder Kristijan Lovrić was the best player on the team with a rating of 8.45 (out of ten) in that game. Lovrić scored one goal, hit four key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 2 times.
Preceding that game was the home draw versus Lokomotiva Zagreb that ended 2-2.There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Gorica, as the 1. HNL home game vs Osijek is only four days away.
Gorica have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at ŠRC Velika Gorica with 12 goals in 8 league matches. Gorica have conceded 14 from these games.
Istra 1961 form and stats
Istra's mission in Croatia Cup last season failed in the final.Istra 1961 have only collected 6 points from their away games in the 1. HNL, after 1-3-5 (9 played). Recent form does not give Istra much hope, as the visitors have lost three games in a row. Gorica will be a tough nut to crack.
Two away games in a row for Istra, who will hope to get a better result in this one after losing 0-4 versus Hajduk Split in the 1. HNL. Istra lost the plot completely in their previous game, as mentioned above. They need to recover quickly from that 0-4 beating and focus on this one. Hassane Bandé got a match rating of 7.21 in that game, top player of the team. Bandé hit three key passes.
Preceding that, the 3-4 home loss versus Sibenik.The attacking power of Istra when travelling is not overwhelming with 5 goals scored from 9 league matches away. The Istra manager G. García García has some worries about the defense as 19 goals have been conceded in these travels.
Head 2 Head
Head to head statistics (for the last ten meetings): Gorica won four games, six matches ended with a tie and Istra 1961 got zero wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: six / fourTop Goalscorers
  B. Bandé 6 goals | D. Dijon 6 goals |  K. Lovrić 5 goals |
Gorica missing players
Istra 1961 missing players
| Gorica | Istra 1961 | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 3 | Won | W | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Drew | D | 4 | 6 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Lost | L | 7 | 12 | ||
| 37 | 19 | Scored | S | 15 | 33 | ||
| 39 | 25 | Conceded | C | 29 | 49 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 93% | 96% | ||
| 80% | 93% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 86% | 84% | ||
| 48% | 43% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 57% | 56% | ||
| 32% | 43% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 36% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 14% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 14% | 16% | ||
| 60% | 64% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 60% | ||
| 20% | 14% | Clean Sheets | C S | 21% | 20% | ||
| 24% | 21% | Failed to Score | F T | 36% | 24% | ||
| 5.2 | 6.6 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.7 | 4.4 | ||
| 4.2 | 4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.1 | 4.1 | ||
| 2.6 | 2.3 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.7 | 2.6 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 11.4 | 12.9 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 8.4 | 8.5 | ||
| 4.9 | 5.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.1 | 3.7 | ||
| 30% | 26% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 35% | 36% | ||
| 11 | 9.8 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 10.6 | 10.2 | ||
| 4.9 | 4.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.3 | 4 | ||
| 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 | Hajduk Split | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 30 |
| 4 | Dinamo Zagreb | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 20 | 28 |
| 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 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -3 | 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 |