- A win for Skellefteå would make it four in a row and put them through
- Helsinki will need to improve on their -1 goal difference if they are to make it out of the Group C
- Both sides achieved two victories each against GKS Tychy and now face each other for the first time
If IFK Helsinki could choose a team to play their last two games against then it’s likely that Skellefteå AIK would be last on their list. The Swedish side are undefeated in regulation (one shootout loss to Bolzano) after four games and are joint second in the number of goals scored in the competition, alongside Tappara Tampere, with 19.
The home side will be inspired to know that they, like Skellefteå, got the job done against GKS Tychy and similarly stumbled in a SO against Bolzano. Although they did subsequently lose their following fixture against the Italian side, IFK are still only one win away from potentially landing Group C in a 10-point three-team stalemate with one fixture left.
After seeing a handful of teams already achieve qualification, Skellefteå Head Coach Tommy Samuelsson will be eager to wrap this fixture up against the misfiring Finnish side. Helsinki won’t be relying on Tychy to do them any favours and will instead need to focus on the job in hand.