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Meeting in the first leg of their Champions League playoff tie, Dinamo Zagreb welcome Norwegian champions Viking to the Croatian capital on Tuesday night.
The Citizens won their 26th top-flight title last season and entered the Champions League qualifying campaign in the second round, where they overcame Thun before comfortably seeing off Kauno Zalgiris.
Viking, meanwhile, also arrive as domestic champions and are making their first appearance in Champions League qualifying due to Norway's UEFA coefficient ranking allowing them to miss the three previous qualifying rounds.
Read our prediction, preview and betting tips for the game below, and make sure to check out our today's betting tips page for more of our expert predictions.
Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking key stats
- Dinamo Zagreb are unbeaten in their last 24 matches in all competitions, with their most recent defeat coming against Belgian side Genk in the Europa League in February.
- After two league matches, Mario Kovacevic's side are the only team yet to concede in the Croatian top flight.
- Viking have won just two of their last five away matches.
- Peter Christiansen is the joint-top scorer in the Eliteserien with nine goals.
Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking preview: Who will go one step closer to the Champions League league phase?
Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking — Tale of the Tape
| Dinamo Zagreb (Croatian Football League) | vs | Viking (Eliteserien) |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Position | 2nd |
| 6 | Points | 40 |
| 6 | Goals For | 40 |
| 0 | Goals Against | 17 |
| 2 | Clean Sheets | 5 |
| 1st / 5th | Home / Away Rank | 2nd / 2nd |
Meeting for the first time on Tuesday night, Croatian and Norwegian champions Dinamo Zagreb and Viking will come head-to-head in a two-legged tie, with the winner progressing to the Champions League league phase.
The hosts already have European experience under their belt this season, following a 1-1 draw with Thun with a narrow 3-2 victory in the second leg before comfortably overcoming Kauno Zalgiris 7-1 on aggregate.
They have also made a strong start domestically, winning their opening two league matches against Slaven and Rudes as they look to secure a sixth Croatian top-flight title since the 2020-21 campaign.
Dinamo were also defensively impressive during their title-winning season, while they were prolific at the other end, narrowly falling short of 100 league goals.
Kovacevic's side have carried that form into the new campaign and will be confident of taking an advantage into the second leg.
Viking, led by Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim and Morten Jensen, also arrive in Zagreb with a domestic title of their own to defend and currently sit second in the Eliteserien.
However, the Dark Blues are much further into their campaign, having already played 17 league matches compared to Dinamo's two.
They have recorded 13 wins, one draw and three defeats from those outings, leaving them just one point behind leaders Bodo/Glimt.
Their latest defeat to Rosenborg ended a five-match unbeaten run, but Viking will still fancy their chances of making a strong impression against Dinamo and progressing to the league phase, especially when the sides meet in Norway next week.
Lunde Aarsheim and Jensen's side have been particularly formidable at Viking Stadion, where they remain unbeaten this season with seven wins from seven matches.
Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking form guide & betting tips
| Dinamo Zagreb | vs | Viking |
|---|---|---|
WWWWW |
Form | WDWWL |
| 16 | Goals For | 9 |
| 3 | Goals Against | 5 |
DWWW |
Champions League | N/A |
Whispers predicts: Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 Viking
Dinamo Zagreb are favourites to win the opening leg and are priced at 7/10 to claim victory, compared to 3/1 for Viking.
The visitors have been in strong goalscoring form despite their recent defeat, and we expect both sides to find the net in what could be a closely fought first leg.
Both Teams to Score is priced at 4/6, while our exact score prediction of 2-1 is available at 15/2.
> BTTS – Yes at 4/6 | Likelihood: Probable
> Dinamo Zagrbe to win at 7/10 | Likelihood: Possible
> Dinamo Zagreb to win 2-1 at 15/2 | Likelihood: Outsider