HJK – Viktoria Pilzen

HJK hosts Viktoria Pilzen in Helsinki in a first game from the second round of the Champions League qualifiers. Stay with us and our best soccer predictions. We will try to give you the most efficient preview of this clash.

Current champions of Finland, HJK already eliminated one opponent from the Champions League. The Scandinavians faced Latvia’s Rigas FC and needed penalties in order to progress. HJK won the first leg in Helsinki with 1-0, but suffered a 1-2 defeat in the rematch. During the penalties they showed better nervers and reached the second round of qualification.

HJK are aware they are underdogs against Viktoria Pilzen, but it doesn’t mean they won’t fight as much as they can. Their head coach Toni Koskela promised the fans they will see a complete effort by the team. We can truly say that HJK are not a club of Viktoria’s calibre, but sometimes the underdogs win in soccer, right?

The striker Bojan Radulovic is one of HJK’s hopes for some goals on Wednesday. The 22-years old Serbian is enjoying his first season in Finland. He already scored some important goals in the domestic league, but he is still looking for a first strike in Europe as well. For HJK it would be very important to offer Radulovic a good enough service to see him show his potential.

Viktoria Pilzen are a well-known team in Europe – they are one of the biggest clubs in the Czech Republic. What makes them different from HJK is the fact that they already played a few times in the Champions League group stage. This would give them even more confidence when they enter the pitch in Helsinki on Wednesday.

The core of Viktoria Pilzen’s team is built by Czech players, but they have some quality foreigners as well. The Brazilian midfielder Cadu is ready to make his official debut for the club while Colombia’s Jhon Mosquera is an important figure in the midfield. At the same time the 28-years old striker Jan Kliment is also anticipating his debut after joining the club from Wisla Krakow.

One of Viktoria Pilzen’s most significant assets is their head coach Michal Bilek. The 57-years old manager is one of the most respected names in Czech soccer. He’s a former manager of the national team and it’s his second stint at Viktoria. His experience is arguably much bigger compared to HJK’s Toni Koskela which gives the Czech team another advantage in this case.

Viktoria Pilzen’s goal in Europe is always the same – playing in the group stages of the best competitions. You can be sure it’s not much different this time as well.

That’s the best soccer prediction we can offer you for the Champions League qualifying game between HJK and Viktoria Pilzen. It’s going to be a tough one for the hosts, but they don’t have nothing to lose – they know very well their position of underdogs. Now it’s up to the Czech side to avoid any surprises here – what they must do is not underestimate their opponent.