HJK vs Viktoria Plzen prediction, preview, team news, and more | UEFA Champions League Qualifiers 2022-23

Viktoria Plzen will get their UEFA Champions League qualification campaign underway when they visit the Sonera Stadium to face HJK on Wednesday.

The Finnish-based outfit needed penalties to see off Rigas Futbola Skola in the opening round and will look to continue their charge to the tournament proper.

After claiming a 1-0 win in the reverse leg, HJK fell to a 2-1 loss against Rigas in the second leg last Tuesday before claiming a 7-6 victory on penalties.

They head into Wednesday’s matchup off the back of a comfortable 3-1 victory over VPS in the Veikkausliiga.

HJK are unbeaten in six of their last seven games across all competitions, with June’s 1-0 loss to AC Oulu being the only exception.

Meanwhile, Viktoria Plzen wrapped up their pre-season with a drab goalless draw against Super Lig side Besiktas last Tuesday.

They have failed to taste victory in their last three games, losing once and picking up two draws.

However, they have lost just twice in 30 games across all competitions and will look to keep this fine run going to end their current dry spell.

HJK vs Viktoria Plzen Head-To-Head

This will be the first-ever meeting between the sides, who will both be looking to begin their rivalry on a high to place one foot in the next round of the qualifiers.

HJK Form Guide: W-W-W-D-L

Viktoria Plzen Form Guide: D-L-D-W-W

HJK vs Viktoria Plzen Team News

HJK

The hosts will take to the pitch without Manuel Martic, Roope Riski and Valtteri Moren, who have all been sidelined through injuries.

Injured: Manuel Martic, Roope Riski, Valtteri Moren

Suspended: None

Viktoria Plzen

The Czech outfit head into the game with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns. The likes of Filip Čihák and Mohamed Tijani are in line for their competitive debut, having recently joined the club in the summer window.

Injured: None

Suspended: None

HJK vs Viktoria Plzen Predicted XI

HJK Predicted XI (3-4-3): Conor Hazard; Miro Tenho, Arttu Hoskonen, Jukka Raitala; Matti Peltola, Santeri Väänäne, Përparim Hetemaj, Murilo; David Browne, Bojan Radulović, Pyry Soiri

Viktoria Plzen Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Jindřich Staněk; Radim Řezník, Ludek Pernica, Filip Čihák, Milan Havel; Pavel Bucha, Lukáš Kalvach; Jan Kopic, Jan Sýkora, Jhon Mosquera; Tomáš Chorý

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HJK vs Viktoria Plzen Prediction

HJK scraped past Rigas by the skin of their teeth and will be hoping for a more impressive second-round performance. While HJK have won five of their last seven home matches across all competitions, we are backing Viktoria Plzen to force a draw, leaving all to play for in the second leg.

Prediction: HJK 1-1 Viktoria Plzen

About the author

Joshua is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda who covers news and match previews. He fell in love with the sport watching Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o win titles at club and international level, and his passion for the sport led him to become a professional football writer. He has an overall professional experience of 5 years.

Joshua supports Chelsea at club level, having witnessed a number of African stars break records with the club. Drogba’s equalizing header and match-winning shootout penalty for Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final left a last impact on him. His favorite player is Eden Hazard and favorite manager is Jose Mourinho, who gave him the most joyous days as a Blues supporter. He believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is unlucky to be born in Messi’s era and favors the Argentine in the G.O.A.T. debate.

Joshua also follows the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League and loves to play football during his free time. Having attained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan, he employs his problem-solving skills in crafting articles while doing extensive research to ensure each article is well thought out and crafted.

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Edited by Peter P