Ostersunds FK vs BK Hacken Predictions

It hasn’t be the best start to the new campaign for Ostersunds, who find themselves in 6^th after seven matches, though Saturday’s hosts are starting to get their act together. They come into this game unbeaten in four, while they were victorious when last in action at this venue. Beating Hacken, who’ve won each of their last two fixtures won’t be easy, though the hosts will fancy themselves after they notched three (and kept a clean sheet) when last in action at Jamtkraft Arena.

Ostersunds come into this match off the back of a four-game unbeaten run, though they’ve not exactly flourished from a performance point of view during that time. Last time out, they were second best against Kalmar, who created considerably more than Ian Burchnall’s men, while they were also poor when narrowly beating Eskilstuna a few weeks ago.

Even on their own patch, Ostersunds have been far from convincing during the early weeks of the season. They’re unbeaten at Jamtkraft Arena, winning two out of three, but they’ve struggled to create more than their opponents, which means that’s it’s fair to say that they’ve been fortunate. Saturday’s hosts have conceded three goals in three home matches, while they’ve shipped a rather worrying average of 2.01 expected goals. Such a figure is poor when we consider that they’ve averaged just 1.22 going the other way. Frankly, unless Burchnall’s side start creating more than they give away, then their unbeaten run will soon come to an end.

While Ostersunds have struggled to create more than they’ve conceded at home, Hacken have done a good job of conjuring up more than their opponents in terms of creativity. Saturday’s visitors have a mixed record on the road, as they’ve won one, drawn one and lost one, but their underlying numbers are pleasing.

Hacken struggled to go with the pace set by Malmo in their first away match, though they’ve done an excellent job of preventing their opponents from creating since then, while they’ve also offered a considerable amount going forward. Against Falkenberg, they created 3.19 expected goals for and conceded just 0.37. In contrast, Ostersunds conceded 3.89 against the same opponent at home, while they posted just 1.0 at the other end.

In their most recent away match, Saturday’s visitors posted 1.5 for and conceded just 0.76 against AIK. A repeat of that effort would surely see them get a positive result against an Ostersunds side that has underwhelmed at home.

In the betting, ‘Hacken to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ stands out as a viable option. Considering that the hosts have given lots away at home, shipping an average of 2.01 expected goals, it’s not at all difficult to envisage the visitors, who as mentioned above have offered plenty going forward on the road, thriving in the final third.