HIFK vs HJK Helsinki Predictions

With the majority of the major leagues around Europe currently on their summer break, you may have to work a bit harder than normal to get your football fix. Fortunately in the Scandinavian leagues, there is still plenty of time left in the season. This Thursday sees a clash between the two sides who share the Telia 5G -areena come face to face as HIFK welcome the defending Veikkausliiga champions, HJK Helsinki.

Although they have won the Veikkausliiga title seven times in their history, HIFK were never fancied to be in the race to win the title this time around and were largely expected to be battling to retain their spot in the top division of Finnish football. The hosts have been in pretty solid form going into this match and although they have been undefeated in their last seven outings, they will know that they will need to put in a big performance to get a result against a side they rarely come out on top against.

With HJK Helsinki technically the away side in this fixture, it may be worth noting that the defending champions have a pretty modest record on the road for a side who are hoping to win yet another title, however, they also possess the best home record in the league and will know that they can ill afford to drop points in this fixture following a poor start to the campaign. HJK are currently three points off Ilves Tampere in top spot, but they have played three games more and are in real danger of falling away from the title picture.

HJK Helsinki will be widely expected to come out on top in this fixture and the odds are certainly reflective of this, however HIFK are undefeated in their last seven matches and have a fearsome record on home soil of their own. With this in mind, we think that backing HIFK on the “double chance” market, which is for them to either draw or win, represents the best chance of a decent return in this fixture.