HJK Helsinki continue their hunt for a place in the Europa League when they play host to Maribor in the second leg of their third round of qualification fixtures on Thursday.
The Slovenian outfit, who were condemned to a 2-0 loss in last week's reverse leg, have lost each of their last four outings across all competitions and will be looking to end this dry spell.
Match preview
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HJK Helsinki failed to move top of the Veikkausliiga standings as they were held to a 1-1 draw by AC Oulu when the sides squared off at the Raatti Stadium last Sunday.
Serbia international Bojan Radulovic broke the deadlock in the 14th minute with a neatly-executed penalty, but substitute Michael Lopez came up clutch for the hosts as he struck in the 91st minute to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, the Klubi were on a run of three consecutive victories in the Finnish top flight, where they are currently second in the table, level on points with first-placed KuPS, who have one game in hand.
HJK now turn their attention to the Europa League qualifiers where they kicked off their campaign with an impressive 2-0 victory over Maribor in the first leg of their third-round clash last Thursday.
Toni Koskela's men, who were sent packing from the Champions League qualifiers courtesy of a 7-1 aggregate defeat against Viktoria Plzen back in July, are currently on a run of three wins in their last four home games and will look to keep the ball rolling.
Maribor, on the other hand, failed to arrest their slump in form as they fell to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian Prva Liga last Saturday.
In an action-packed contest at the Ljudski vrt Stadium, Svit Seslar and 24-year-old Timi Max Elsnik scored either side of the half-time interval to hand the visitors a fourth consecutive victory across all competitions.
Radovan Karanovic's side have now lost three of their opening four games of the 2022-23 Slovenian top-flight campaign, with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Gorica on July 23 being the only exception.
Maribor were also dumped out of the race for a place in the Champions League as they fell to a 1-0 aggregate defeat against Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol in the second qualifying round back in July.
While the Vijolicasti will be looking to mount an impressive comeback on Thursday, they are currently on a run of four consecutive defeats in all competitions, scoring once and shipping seven goals in that time.
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Team News
HJK Helsinki will take to the pitch without the services of Roope Riski and 31-year-old defender Valtteri Moren, who are both recuperating from knee injuries.
They are joined on the club's injury table by Austrian midfielder Manuel Martic, who is set to sit out his ninth consecutive game after picking up a knee problem against Rigas Futbola Skola on July 6.
Radulovic, who has found the target in each of his last two games, should lead the hosts' attack once again, teaming up with Anthony Olusanya and Malmo loanee Malik Abubakari.
As for Maribor, Karanovic will be unable to call upon the defensive duo of Martin Milec and Max Watson, who have both been sidelined through knee injuries.
The visiting side will also have to make do with the absence of 30-year-old goalkeeper Azbe Jug, who has been out of action since April's 2-1 victory over Tabor Sezana, while Aleks Pihler also continues his spell on the sidelines.
HJK Helsinki possible starting lineup:
Hazard; Peltola, Tenho, Raitala; Browne, Hoskonen, Lingman, Murillo; Abubakari, Olusanya, Radulovic
Maribor possible starting lineup:
Bergsen; Zinic, Mitrovic, Watson, Sikosek; Repas, Vidakovic; Vipotnik, Antolin, Brnic; Baturina
We say: HJK Helsinki 2-1 Maribor
While Maribor will look to mount a memorable comeback, they have struggled to get going in recent weeks, losing each of their last four games across all competitions. We are backing the home side to pick up where they dropped off in the first leg and make use of their home advantage to claim a slender second-leg victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
