Vikingur Gota vs HJK Helsinki Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

The Champions League is slowly moving towards the group stage, just as the World Cup reaches its final week. Europe’s top competition has reached the first qualifying round, as the champions of the Faroe Islands and Finland clash. Can HJK boost their chances of progressing in Europe with an away win on Tuesday night? They’ve made a strong start in the league, but their ambitions in the Champions League come down to these two clashes with Vikingur over the next week.

The hosts are sitting third in their domestic competition, they’ve already fallen 11 points off the pace in the title race. They’ve made a mixed start with their home form, and that’s left them dragging their heels in the title race. The top two sides have already won at this ground, with Vikingur losing three of their eight matches, and looking pretty lax at the back. Could those problems feed in to their Champions League push this term?

They clash with a HJK side who are sweeping everyone aside in their domestic league, and they’ve racked up a healthy lead at the top of the Veikkausliiga. However, they’re going to face a difficult trip here. On the plus side for the Finnish side, they’ve scored 1.89 goals per game in their league this term. They’ve scored in 80% of their away trips domestically, and with superior European experience over Vikingur they’ll fancy their chances of getting an away goal in this visit to the Faroe Islands.

They scored seven goals in four matches during their last spell in this competition. Their previous two away trips each brought three goals, and they’ll head to Vikingur aiming to punish the hosts’ defence. They’ve shipped 1.25 goals per game at their own ground in the league, letting in a goal in 81% of their matches. With 75% of their league games seeing both teams score, we expect goals here.

The hosts have seen BTTS land in all but one of their Champions League ties, never keeping a clean sheet. We expect the two sides to impress getting forward, so both teams to score is our tip. We’re also backing a 2-1 victory for HJK, who look much the better side. They should take control of this tie, so we’re backing them to take a high scoring victory.