The 2019 Finland Veikkausliiga continues this week and the final game in this round of fixtures is between HJK Helsinki and Honka. The match will be played on Wednesday 19th June at the Telia 5G Arena.
The hosts know a win will take them to the top of the table having started this round of games in third place. Honka are only 1 point and one place behind HJK Helsinki and a win for them could take them level with Inter Turku at the top of the league.
HJK Helsinki come into this match having defeated RoPS 1-0 away from home on Friday night. That was their second win in succession and leaves them in contention to move top of table this week. The previous win came against KPV at home with the match ending 3-1 in favour of the hosts.
Trends show HJK Helsinki are tough to beat in the Veikkausliiga and they have lost only two of their last twenty-seven games in the league. One of those defeats came a couple of weeks ago at Lahti but it is at home where HJK Helsinki are at their best.
HJK Helsinki are undefeated in their last twenty home league games and have won eight of their last eleven on home soil. However, they have drawn three of the last four at the Telia 5G Arena so wins have not been easy to come by recently.
Honka know this is a big opportunity, especially as they have two games in hand over their opponents. However, they suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home against KPV the last time they played, which was on Sunday 2nd June.
That was their first defeat in five league games having won two and drawn two of the previous four. Honka have been tough to beat and have lost only three of their last seventeen league matches. They have won five of their last seven on the road and have scored 2 or more goals in four of their last six.
Looking ahead to the team news and HJK Helsinki could have every player available for this match. Their strikers have struggled to find the back of the net but Riku Riski, Lassi Lappalainen and Evans Mensah all have 2 goals each from midfield and will be a threat.
Honka will be hoping Konsta Rasimus, Jonas Levanen and Henri Aalto return from injury for this game. Borjas Martin has been in good form this season and the striker has scored 6 goals in ten games, making him the second highest scorer in the league.
This should be a very good, closely fought match. Both teams have a good home and away record respectively and we could see a low scoring draw.