It's 3rd v 5th in this one, another top of the table clash in Veikkausliiga on Friday evening to enjoy. The home team are HJK Helsinki and they welcome SJK for this clash, both sides are going along nicely, but so far, I don't think we've seen either prove they can move forward and break down the top two, though of course, that may come if either can find another gear.
HJK Helsinki Form GuideWith just one win from their last four games, HJK Helsinki haven't screamed to us that they're a team ready to break into the top two. But with four wins and four draws from 11 games so far, they have 16 points on the board, and that puts them six off the top two, and three behind third placed SJK, who they face here.
They come here on the back of a defeat last Friday and it was a disappointing one as they lost 1-0 away from home against 10th placed Oulu. Before that, a 1-1 draw with Ilves, and a narrow 1-0 success over Gnistan. It's not been anything better than good, but this is a team that can show more, and we may see it soon.
SJK Form GuideSJK are better off in the standings, two positions higher in the table, and two points ahead with 18 on the board. That puts them in 3rd place, four behind the top two, and it's also come from 10 games, so they have a game in hand on HJK Helsinki. But they've also come here on the back of a defeat, and have two wins and two draws from their last four games.
They lost 2-0 at home to Mariehamn at the weekend, which was an incredibly disappointing performance from them, and one they will be looking to bounce back from straight away. Before that, two good wins over poor teams, beating FC Lahti 4-0 and Inter Turku 3-1, so doing what they needed to do against the weaker teams in the league.
Match PredictionI am going to back a home win for HJK Helsinki here. They've not shown us anything huge so far, but that may be coming. And while they've been inconsistent, they've performed well at times, and face an SJK team here who have won recently, but only against poor sides, so I think the home team can take this.
