Larne v HJK Helsinki

Larne vs HJK Preview

The Champions League 1st qualifying round continues on Wednesday night and features this upcoming clash between Northern Irish outfit, Larne, and their visitors from Finland, HJK, when the two teams meet at Inver Park with the hosts looking to erode the 1-0 deficit following last week's 1st leg defeat in Helsinki.

After putting together an impressive four-match winning streak in previous club friendlies, Larne have since stumbled to two defeats in their last three games which may just set the odd alarm bell ringing amongst the Larne camp prior to this vital return leg.

Results and form overall though have been pretty consistent where Larne have been concerned as the home side have lost just four of their last 29 matches in all competitions which proved to be the catalyst to Larne's historic Irish Premiership title win at the end of the last campaign.

In addition, Larne have been a tough side to beat on home soil at their Inver Park ground as well, as the hosts have lost just twice in their previous 18 games in their own backyard and represents Larne's best chance of overturning this one-goal deficit on Wednesday night.

HJK will feel they have one foot already in the 2nd qualifying round of this season's Champions League after they secured a 1-0 home win over their Northern Irish counterparts last week at their Bolt Arena and they too have put together a promising looking sequence of results lately.

The Finnish visitors have suffered just three defeats in their last 21 matches overall, two of which have actually been inflicted upon HJK on home soil while they have responded by picking up 11 wins in the process.

HJK are also unbeaten in their last six outings on their travels in all competitions which consists of one win and no fewer than five draws and the possibility of another stalemate may not be out of the question with Larne on Wednesday night either.

The win during this period came in the shape of a 2-1 win away from home at Lahti while four of the five draws also resulted in both teams scoring so therefore, five of HJK's last six away matches have seen both teams hit the back of the net.

Larne v HJK Verdict

Larne know their best chance of gaining a positive result in this two-legged European affair with HJK lies with their form at home and as the hosts have scored in seven of their last 10 home games, the likelihood of the hosts hitting the back of the net look pretty good.

HJK have scored in six of their last 10 away games in all competitions and they too look likely goalscorers here as well.

Therefore, our main bet will be Both Teams To Score Yes @ 1.83

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.50

Correct score: 1-1 @ 7.00