HJK Helsinki v Larne

HJK v Larne Preview

The 1st legs of the 1st qualifying round of this season's Champions League continue on Wednesday evening with Finnish hosts, HJK Helsinki, taking on last season's Northern Ireland Premiership title winners, Larne, at the Bolt Arena with both teams keen to get an early lead in this two-legged affair.

HJK currently occupy third place in the Finnish Veikkausliiga and the hosts were handed a 1-0 defeat to Lahti last time out on the domestic front but this has been HJK's only slip-up in their past five matches in all competitions which includes previous wins against Lahti (away) and a home win against KTP.

HJK have produced pretty solid form for some time as the hosts have lost just three of their last 20 matches in all competitions and picking up 10 wins in the process, while results overall on home soil at their Bolt Arena have followed a similar path as they have suffered just two defeats in their previous 12 games in all competitions.

HJK have also been handed only two defeats in their previous 13 home ties in the Champions League and having also collected seven wins during this period, HJK look to be a tough opponent for newcomers, Larne, on Wednesday night.

Onto Larne then and their recent history really is a ‘rags to riches' story which culminated in winning the Irish Premiership league title at the end of last season and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their club history.

It has been a meteoric rise for Larne who not so long ago were plying their trade in Irish non-league football but investment behind the scenes has helped attract better quality to their playing personnel as well as improved training facilities and they edged out the usual suspects, Linfield, by a six-point margin to lift the title at the end of last term.

The new Northern Ireland domestic season will commence in the first week of August so Larne have had to make do with playing several club friendlies in preparation for their first ever foray into European football, and having won five of their six friendlies the visitors will feel they've done as much as they can to make a good fist of things in this 1st leg tie in Finland on Wednesday evening.

HJK v Larne Verdict

By comparison, HJK possess vastly superior experience at Champions League level as the Finnish hosts are old hands at qualifying stage and their pedigree at this level should see HJK record a comfortable win at their Bolt Arena with perhaps also keeping a clean sheet into the bargain as Larne find their feet at this step up in quality.

Therefore, our main bet will be HJK win & Both Teams To Score No @ 1.83

Other side bets worth considering:

Under 2.5 goals @ 2.35

Correct score: HJK 2-0 @ 6.00