Despite starting the game fairly positively, SJK quickly unraveled in the second half of their 4-0 defeat at the hands of league leaders and defending champions, HJK Helsinki. It will be a defeat which will be pretty hard for them to take, as they were well in the contest in the first half and defended with aggression and quality.
They have little time to lick their wounds, however, as they face off against another side who has struggled in recent weeks when they make the trip to the Hietalahti Stadium to face VPS Vaasa. The hosts have had plenty of troubles of their own in their matches of late, and they enter into this fixture having failed to win in their previous four outings.
Given the poor form of both of these sides, it seems clear that neither are looking particularly confident in front of goal. With this in mind, we can’t see Friday’s match going down as one for the ages and we think backing against there being plenty of goals by winning on under 2.5 goals is the way to go.
A lack of goals is something which has plagued both of these sides this season as 73% of Vaasa PS’s matches have had under 2.5 goals in total and 80% of SJK’s matches have had under 2.5 goals in total. It is also something which has been apparent in their games of late as Vaasa PS have managed to find the back of the net just three times in their previous five outings and SJK have managed just three goals in their last six outings.
The story gets worse for the visitors too as in their four matches on their travels has seen them score just three times. If they are to get back to winning ways then it is likely that they will have to do so by keeping things tight at the back and hoping they can snatch a goal at the other end.
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SJK have an excellent record in the head to head between these two sides with 16 wins, no draws and five defeats. The sides last met in a 1-0 SJK win in the Suomen Cup back in March.
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