In this week 18 match on the 15th of August, HIFK will host SJK in a meeting of these two Veikkausliiga teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy but warm day with daytime temperatures of 21 degrees, which should make for a nice day for football. HIFK sits at 12th place in the tables. In their last match they recorded a 0-0 scoreless draw against Lahti. Neither Lahti nor HIFK could manage to put one past the goalie. They had 15 and 14 shots on net respectively, but no one could score, and the match ended in a 0 – 0 draw,. They’re hoping to improve on their recent performance, having lost 7 of their last 10, while 7th placed SJK is fresh off their 0-1 loss against Inter Turku. Paananen struck first for Inter Turku in the 34th minute, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, SJK was frustrated by Inter Turku’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Inter Turku ended the match with the shutout victory. SJK is looking for direction having 4 win and 2 losses in their last 10 matches.
HIFK and SJK last played eachother at the Omasp Stadion on Sat Apr 2nd. SJK was victorious by a score of 2 to 1. Pipe Sáez struck first for HIFK in the 75th minute on a penalty kick, but Denys Oliynyk got the equalizer for SJK in the 86th minute on a penalty kick But fortunately they were able to complete the comaback victory in the 91st minute on a goal by Rafał Wolsztyński.
Tuomas Kaukua has been on a hot streak lately. In the last five games, the midfielder has scored four goals for SJK. Sergei Eremenko and Eero Markkanen are the top scorers for HIFK in the last 5 matches, but unfortunately they only have one goal.