Sport vs HIFK    (lost)

Vaasan Sport welcome visitors from Helsinki for this Finnish Liiga battle at Vaasa Arena this afternoon. Sport are the worst team in Liiga. They have taken only 24 points. Moreover, they are totally out-of-form - having lost five games in a row. As a result their chances of making it to the top-12 (Playoffs) are extremely slim. They recently sacked their head coach - again!  Publicly Sport said that Shedden himself wanted to leave..Third head coach before halfway the season reflects the fact that not everything is okay in Vaasa. Last season they performed well, better than expected, but let's remember they are still one of the smallest teams in Liiga.. Sport have not scored a single goal in their last two games.  In their most recent match they were miserable against Pelicans, a pretty poor team, losing 0-4 at home. Sport were, for reasons I do not understand, favourites on the betting market.

We have opposed HIFK many times this season - making a nice profit. No, they are still not among the top-6 teams in Liiga but have raised their level massively from early season. Seemingly the bookies have failed to fully realize this. I stress that they have also acquired several new players - mostly somewhat mediocre though. Even so, they have three lines of decent players now. The Swedish goalie,  Hugo Alnefelt, was pathetic in his first games but has performed well recently! HIFK have won five of their last six games, including wins over the top-teams Ässät (4-2) and Tappara, the favourites to win the championship. Indeed, on Wednesday HIFK beat Tappara 6-3 at home. Yes, the final score flatters HIFK to some extent but the win was surely a massive boost to HIFK! No, they have not been strong on the road this season but have won two of their last away games - 1-0 against Kärpät and 3-1 over Lukko. I highlight that both were solid performances, not lucky wins. HIFK are in 14th place with 36 points but have a good chance of grabbing a spot in the Playoffs. Indeed, three of their top-5 forwards Lehterä, Pakarinen and Repo will be back early 2026.  HIFK seem to be slightly underrated on the betting market but the main rationale behind this pick is to oppose the disappoinring Sport.