Preview: HJK Helsinki vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

The German side occupy second place after three rounds of matches, while the hosts are five points adrift at the bottom of Group G.

Match preview

There may be a sense of trepidation around the HJK camp ahead of Thursday's return fixture after they suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat in last month's meeting at Deutsche Bank Park.

HJK made the trip to Germany just days after retaining their league title, but their celebratory mood was swiftly quashed, as Frankfurt racked up four first-half goals, before adding a couple more to their tally in the second period.

After previously losing to PAOK and drawing with Aberdeen, the Finnish champions are left languishing in fourth position, with five points separating them from their opponents.

Having completed their domestic campaign, HJK have not played since their disastrous trip to Germany, giving them plenty of time to prepare for the reverse fixture, where they will attempt to keep their top-two hopes alive.

The hosts know that they will be eliminated with two games to play if they lose to Frankfurt in Thursday's home contest.

In contrast to their hosts, Frankfurt are well placed to reach the knockout rounds after winning two of their three group games to leave them in second place with a five-point cushion to Aberdeen and HJK, while they are three points adrift of leaders PAOK.

Their only defeat of the group stage took place against PAOK on October 5, but since losing 2-1 in Greece, die Adler have responded in emphatic fashion to put together a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W5, D1).

After winning three consecutive matches, Frankfurt had to settle for a point in their home meeting with Dortmund, where they gave up the lead on two occasions to draw 2-2 with Edin Terzic's side.

They returned to winning ways in their DFB-Pokal tie with Viktoria Koln, before they cruised to a 3-0 victory in Sunday's home league game against Union Berlin thanks to a Omar Marmoush brace and Nacho Ferri's first goal for the club.

Dino Toppmoller's charges will look to claim a fourth consecutive away win, and all three points could be enough to book their place in the knockout rounds if Aberdeen fail to beat PAOK in the group's other game.

HJK Helsinki Europa Conference League form:

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HJK Helsinki form (all competitions):

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Eintracht Frankfurt Europa Conference League form:

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W

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Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):

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Team News

The hosts remain without the services of goalkeeper Dejan Iliev and attacker Maksim Stjopin, who are long-term injury absentees.

Toni Korkeakunnas is likely to make at least a couple of changes to the team that lost in Frankfurt last month, with Georgios Kanellopoulos and Santeri Hostikka both in contention to start Thursday's contest.

Having scored twice in HJK's three group games, Bojan Radulovic represents one of the home side's main goal threats.

As for Frankfurt, they are unable to call upon Sebastian Rode and Simon Simoni due to calf and elbow injuries respectively.

Tuta is also set to miss the midweek trip to Helsinki after the Brazilian defender picked up a shoulder issue in Saturday's win over Union Berlin.

While Hrvoje Smolcic is expected to replace Tuta, Toppmoller could also opt to freshen up his side with further changes, which could result in starting berths for Niels Nkounkou, Buta and Mario Gotze.

HJK Helsinki possible starting lineup:

Ost; Toivio, Tenho, Halme; Soiri, Kanellopoulos, Peltola, Lingman, Hamalianen; Radulovic, Keskinen

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Koch, Smolcic, Pacho; Buta, Larsson, Skhiri, Nkounkou; Chaibi, Gotze; Marmoush

We say: HJK Helsinki 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt

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