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Steffen Schmidt - July 24, 2023
HJK vs Molde
UEFA Champions League Qualification
Date: 25 July 2023, Tuesday
Kick-off at 17:00 UK / 18:00 CET
Venue: Bolt Arena (Helsinki).
HJK needed extra-time to eliminate Northern Irish champions Larne in the opening round of their 2023/24 UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign.
They showed a horrendous performance last Tuesday in Belfast, allowing 15 shots and registering only 2 of their own on the occasion.
The team led by Toni Korkeakunnas have generally been struggling badly with form in recent weeks.
They have won only three of the last eleven games across competitions and they only sit third after 16 rounds in the Veikkausliiga standings.
Finnish champions scored one or fewer goals in nine of the previous eleven matches and we are not quite confident regarding their chances of turning a corner here against Molde.
The Norwegians had a bye in the opening qualifying round. They won the first Eliteserien title in the last three years last season.
Erling Moe’s men got off to a slow start to the new domestic campaign but they have grown in both form and confidence drastically in the last several weeks.
Molde will thus go into this on the back of five wins and a draw in the previous six matches in all competitions.
They are firing on all cylinders these days with seven goals scored in the last two matches against Sarpsborg (a 3-1 win in the NM Cupen quarterfinal) and Valerenga (a 0-4 win on the road in the Eliteserien).
Moe’s troops notched two or more goals in each of the last five games in all competitions. Can they translate this brilliant form to continent’s flagship tournament?
Molde are scoring for fun these days and we see them as the clear favorites against HJK who have shown a terrible performance in a 2-2 draw to Larne last week in the inaugural qualifying round.
The away win is well worth backing at the odds of 2.05 while the braver tipsters can chase the 3.20 odds offered for Molde to have the lead at the half time and win the match at the end.
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