No winner at Maksimir?
This matchup sounds like Champions League action, but it’s taking place one tier lower in the Europa League, and we’ve got a pick ready for Dinamo Zagreb vs. Anderlecht! The home team kicked off the competition with a scoreless draw at Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Israel.
The Croatians can’t be satisfied with that result, and that measly single point will come back to haunt them in the final tally. The visitors from Brussels had an even worse start to the competition.
RSC suffered a home defeat at the hands of the “Gones” from Lyon. However, compared to Dinamo’s opponent, the French side is a significantly better team. Moreover, a draw would have been a fairer result given the teams’ share of possession and chances.
For the upcoming match between Dinamo Zagreb and Anderlecht, the prediction is now a draw. Admittedly, the Croatians generally perform at least a league better at their home stadium, Maksimir, than they do on the road, but RSC feels right at home playing away.
In their four previous meetings, the total has never exceeded 2.5 goals, and Anderlecht’s offense has traditionally struggled on the road. Across the past ten away games in domestic and international competition, they’ve scored more than one goal just once, averaging a mere 0.9 goals per game.
At the same time, however, the Belgians play strong defense on the road, which is why low-scoring away games are not uncommon. In fact, the majority (4) of their seven away games this season—across domestic and international competitions—ended with two goals or fewer.
Dinamo Zagreb – Anderlecht Head-to-Head Record
As mentioned at the beginning, “Modri” and the Belgian record champions have already faced each other four times. All of these matches took place in the Europa League, specifically in 2009 and 2018.
In the first match, the “Violets” from Brussels secured a 1-0 away victory. After that, however, the Belgians didn’t have much to celebrate in this matchup. RSC failed to score in the three subsequent encounters, and the Croatian champions came out on top twice.
Dinamo Zagreb – Anderlecht Prediction
The “Plavi” from Maksimir are counting on home-field advantage against Anderlecht. In their three home games during last summer’s Champions League qualifiers, the 115-year-old club recorded two wins and a draw against Viking.
However, the Croatians ultimately fell to the aforementioned Norwegian champions, which is why they’re competing in the Europa League. Their home strength is further evidenced by the fact that the hosts haven’t lost a home game since February of this year.
On the other hand, they should be wary: That defeat came against the “Smurfs” from Genk—a team from the Belgian Jupiler League. Anderlecht also performed solidly on the road during the previous Europa League qualifying round.
They even managed a win against a team as strong at home as PAOK and didn’t lose any of their three away games (2-1-0). Given this, we expect a close match, and the betting odds for a draw in the game between Dinamo Zagreb and Anderlecht look promising.
