Majority of Croatian Clubs Favorites in the 17th Round - Croatian Water Polo Federation
The Premier League, specifically its 17th round, will span a total of three days. It started with Friday and the round's derby, held in Kragujevac between the two best Serbian clubs, Radnički and Novi Beograd.
What interests us in Croatia will happen on Saturday and Sunday. At least for now, on paper, out of the 5 matches where Croatian clubs are playing, three of our teams are favorites. However, this should not be taken lightly or assumed that points in these matches are guaranteed.
First Time in Varaždin
The Varaždin pool has previously hosted the Croatian national team in all age groups and categories, but it has never hosted a match of the highest regional competition level like the Premier League. This will change exactly this Saturday. Namely, Zagreb's Mladost will host Kotor's Primorac in Varaždin. The reason is known from before, a result of this summer's agreements between the officials of the national federations of Croatia and Montenegro. Croatian clubs do not play in the Kotor pool, and the Kotor team does not play in the home pool of their Croatian opponents either. Primorac is officially the champion of Montenegro, but their performance this season is below last season's level, so it is not realistically expected to pose major problems for Mladost.
Rijeka Aims for 3 Points at Kantrida
On Saturday, coach Igor Hinić's team should secure the maximum number of points. Valis from Valjevo, the weakest team in the league who have yet to secure a victory, with their only point coming from a draw after penalties, will be their guests. For Primorje EB, Japanese player Daichi Ogihara should make his debut, having arrived at Kantrida in the January transfer window.
Tough Visit for Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik faces one of the toughest challenges at the moment, as they travel to Škver to play against Herceg Novi's Jadran. Coach Vladimir Gojković's team is in great form, convincingly defeating Mladost in Zagreb and Jadran in Split in the previous round, while also beating the previously undefeated Novi Beograd at home in the meantime.
New Challenge for Šibenik
Solaris will also go into the water on Saturday. The last two matches under new coach Bruno Sabioni have not ended well for the team. They suffered a home defeat to Primorac and an away loss to Mladost. Now, they face Šabac at home, a team showing better performances than their points or position in the table suggest. Overall, a tough task for the hosts.
Jadran to 'Extinguish' Zvezda
Croatian champions, Jadran from Split, will conclude the round as their match against Crvena zvezda in Belgrade will be held on Sunday, the 16th of this month. The past ten days have not been the best for coach Marelja's team. They lost at home to Olympiacos (Champions League) and were convincingly defeated by Jadran HN (Premier League). The common denominator in both matches was a very poor start, where opponents took a 3-4 goal lead. This is a detail that the Jadran coach surely warned about, and one that we believe cannot be repeated against Zvezda. Zvezda is a solid team, but not on the level to be compared to the Croatian champions.
