HJK Helsinki play host to Silkeborg at the Sonera Stadium in the first leg of their Europa League qualifying playoff round clash on Thursday.
The visiting side head into the game off the back of suffering their first loss of the 2022-23 Danish Superliga campaign and will look to quickly return to winning ways.
Match preview
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HJK Helsinki sealed their place in the playoff round of the Europa League qualifiers last Thursday when they secured a second-leg victory over Maribor.
Following an uneventful first half at the Sonera Stadium, Santeri Hostikka came up trumps for the home side as he netted nine minutes into the second period to see off the Slovenian outfit 3-0 on aggregate.
Prior to that, Toni Koskela's side were denied a fourth win on the bounce in the Finnish Veikkausliiga as they were held to a 1-1 draw by AC Oulu when Bojan Radulovic and Michael Lopez scored for either side to force a share of the spoils.
The Finnish outfit, who were sent packing from the Champions League qualifiers courtesy of a 7-1 aggregate defeat against Viktoria Plzen, are currently unbeaten in their last four games across all competitions, claiming three wins and one draw.
HJK Helsinki are currently third in the Veikkausliiga standings and head into Thursday on a run of four wins from their last five games on home turf, with a 2-1 loss against Viktoria Plzen on July 20 being the only exception.
Silkeborg, on the other hand, were condemned to their first defeat of the 2022-23 Danish top-flight campaign as they were beaten 2-0 away to Viborg when the sides squared off last Sunday.
Despite being on the back foot for most of the game, first-half goals from Jay-Rot Grot and Christian Sorensen helped the Greens pick up all three points at the Energi Viborg Arena.
Prior to that, Kent Nielsen's men kicked off their new season with a thrilling 2-2 draw with Lyngby in their league opener on July 17 before picking up three wins from their subsequent three outings.
While Silkeborg will look to return to winning ways and claim an early march in their race for the Europa League group stages, they have managed just one win from their last five competitive away games, picking up one draw and losing three since the start of May.
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Team News
HJK Helsinki will take to the pitch without the experienced duo of Roope Riski and 31-year-old defender Valtteri Moren, who have both been ruled out through knee injuries.
Austrian midfielder Manuel Martic is also out of contention for the Finnish outfit as he continues his long road to full fitness after sustaining a leg injury against Rigas Futbola Skola in July.
Hostikka has been pivotal in HJK's charge for a place in the Europa League group stages and the 24-year-old, who has scored one and assisted one of the Koskela's side's three goals in the qualifiers, should lead the attack, alongside Bojan Radulovic and Malik Abubakari.
As for Silkeborg, Nielsen will be unable to call upon the midfield duo of Andreas Oggesen and Niclas Holm Pedersen, who are recuperating from muscle and back injuries respectively.
Twenty-year-old defender Oscar Fuglsang is set to sit out his seventh consecutive game through a thigh problem, while Gustav Dahl and Alexander Lind are yet to feature for the Danish side this year due to long-term injuries.
HJK Helsinki possible starting lineup:
Hazard; Peltola, Tenho, Raitala; Browne, Hoskonen, Lingman, Murillo; Abubakari, Olusanya, Radulovic
Silkeborg possible starting lineup:
Larsen; Sonne, Salquist, Felix, Engel; Pordarson, Brink, Klynge; Jorgensen, Helenius, Vallys
We say: HJK Helsinki 2-2 Silkeborg
HJK have enjoyed a perfect campaign in the Europa League qualifiers, winning their two games so far while also keeping two clean sheets. However, they should expect a stern challenge from Silkeborg, who possesses the firepower needed to grab the result on Thursday. We anticipate a thrilling contest, with both sides cancelling out each other's efforts and settling for a draw, leaving all to play for in the second leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
