Dinamo Zagreb and Anderlecht Meet at Maksimir Looking to Shake Off Slow Europa League Starts

Maksimir hosts a clash of two sides with plenty to prove. Dinamo Zagreb still hasn't tasted victory in this Europa League campaign, and Anderlecht arrives fresh off a loss, so both will be looking to get their league phase campaigns back on track.

The numbers tell the story: so far in the tournament, Dinamo Zagreb has played one match, drawing it, with no wins or losses and no goals scored or conceded. That stalemate leaves them 17th in the table, though it's worth not reading too much into it yet, since with just one match played per team, the standings barely mean anything. Anderlecht, for its part, lost its only match so far and has scored one goal while conceding two, leaving it in 22nd place, just one point behind the home side.

Looking further back, Dinamo Zagreb arrives with a mixed run of form: in its last five matches it picked up two wins, two draws and one loss. Anderlecht, meanwhile, has looked somewhat steadier over that stretch, with three wins, one draw and one loss in its last five outings. These are small samples that don't reflect the tournament record, but they do give a sense of the momentum each side brings into Zagreb.

There are a couple of other numbers worth putting into context, since they come not from this ongoing Europa League campaign but from a separate sample of just one match: playing both home and away in the competition, Dinamo Zagreb has kept a clean sheet in 100% of its matches and tends to score within the first 15 minutes. Anderlecht, in that same sample, has failed to keep a clean sheet in any match, and its goal came between the 61st and 75th minute, scored by Mihajlo Cvetkovic. These are isolated trends rather than a tournament-wide summary, but they do hint at each team's patterns.

What the head to head says

The two sides have met four times before, with the edge going to Dinamo Zagreb: two wins for the Croatian side against one for Anderlecht and one draw, with an aggregate scoreline of 3 to 2 in Dinamo Zagreb's favor.

Possible lineups

Dinamo Zagreb's starting eleven carries low reliability based on available information: the likely core would include Scott McKenna, Sergi Dominguez, Josip Misic, Luka Stojkovic, Mateo Lisica, Mislav Orsic and Dion Beljo, among the names who have logged the most starting minutes in recent matches.

Anderlecht's probable lineup carries medium reliability, with Colin Coosemans in goal, Ludwig Augustinsson, Leo Petrot and Ali Maamar across the back line, Marco Kana and Danylo Sikan in midfield, and Tawfik Bentayeb leading the attack.

What the numbers say before kickoff

Our model gives a clear edge to Dinamo Zagreb, though it doesn't rule Anderlecht out of the conversation entirely:

The projection also calls for a total of 3.31 expected goals in the match, split between 2.18 for Dinamo Zagreb and 1.13 for Anderlecht. These figures come from our own model, not a betting line or a definitive prediction, but they do make clear that the home side is favored without writing off the visitors.

With both teams needing a win to avoid falling further behind in the standings, this meeting at Maksimir should offer a good read on where each club stands in this Europa League campaign.