- Hajduk are unbeaten in their last two home matches, but they face a dangerous and direct Zilina side on Thursday.
- Hajduk have won three and lost one of their four home matches in all competitions this season, while averaging 2.50 goals per home game.
- Zilina have lost three of their five away games this term, but have bagged eight goals in the process.
An interesting chess match in Croatia
Hajduk Split come into this clash as the clear 29/50 favourites to see off a Zilina side that are 4/1 to win and the draw at 3/1, but there is good reason to think that the Slovakians could push the Croatian champions close at Stadion Poljud.
MSK Zilina are set to play at a higher tempo in Croatia than Hajduk, who are a much more control-first type of team that likes to build from deep and spread the play via their wide areas and set pieces.
Gonzalo García has been excellent at developing his Hajduk side into a side that can manipulate games and pinch possession, but that style of play does leave the team open to Zilina's high-press game, so Thursday's clash could be a real chess match.
In terms of form, Hajduk are 2W, 2D and 1L in their last five matches, while Zilina are 2W and 3L. However, Hajduk's defeat against Gorica in the last round was a false positive, as the 6-3 victory against Vukovar 1991 on Sunday showed plenty of bite in the final third and the 2D from the week before were against a solid Rudeš and a strong Šibenik side.
Zilina's last five games read 2W and 3L, with back-to-back losses to Spartak Trnava and Podbrezova cooling their hot streak quickly. Pavol Staňo's men play a high-intensity game where they try to press opponents deep and look to win the ball back to exploit the high spaces, so they can be very dangerous if they can turn Hajduk over in advanced positions.
Hajduk are favourites to win, and they probably will edge this one out, but we like the draw and under 3.5 goals more for our main bet, as we expect the visitors to keep it close and keep their attacking chances to a minimum.
