Football Bet of the Day: Marie won't be quite so proud

Table-toppers to win again

Mariehamn v HJK
Monday 14 June, 16:30

We got the goals we wanted in Norway last night, but they weren't shared out as we wished. Our boys Valerenga led 1-0 on the stroke of half time, only to collapse to their first road defeat of the season, losing 4-1 at Viking.

We'll head to Finland now, because the champions HJK Helsinki are in action against struggling Mariehamn, and I think the league leaders can win with room to spare.

Regular readers will know that we backed HJK to win at Haka in their most recent match in the top-tier Veikkausliga, and that was their fifth straight victory at this level. They have scored at least twice in all of those successes, and they have won by a two-goal margin or greater in all but one of their league victories. The last time they visited Mariehamn in the league, which was in November, they won 5-0.

Mariehamn made a decent start to the season, but things have since unravelled. They have lost their last four league matches, and they haven't scored in any of those games. All four of those reverses featured a victory margin of at least two goals.

Stretching back into last season, Mariehamn have lost six of their last seven league games at the Wiklöf Holding Arena, and I can't see that situation improving here. I'll back HJK -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at 2.01/1.