HJK HELSINKI

League position: 1st
Head coach: Toni Koskela
League top scorer: Bojan Radulovic (seven)

RECENT FORM

HJK: W D W L L
ROMA: L W D W L

Helsinki have successfully defended their top-flight title since their 3-0 defeat to Roma in the reverse fixture and it’s fair to say that their European form hasn’t mirrored that of their domestic exploits.

They sit bottom of Group C with just one point from four matches and have already seen two of their players handed red cards - the last of which means centre-back Jukka Raitala misses out on Thursday.

As for Roma, the Giallorossi’s three-match winning streak in Serie A was ended by league leaders Napoli at the weekend and they need victory in order to stay in contention for the UEL knockouts.

Jose Mourinho hasn’t been shy of rotating his players as they balance duties in three competitions, and the likes of Andrea Belotti, Nemanja Matic and Mile Svilar could all start.

Possible HJK line-up

(3-4-2-1)

Hazard; Peltola, Hoskonen, Tenho; Soiri, Lingman, Vaananen, Browne; Hetemaj, Hostikka; Radulovic

DANGER MAN
Bojan Radulovic

Injury at the back end of the season reduced Radulovic to bits and pieces minutes in recent weeks, but he was in the starting line-up at the weekend and looks to finally be back to fitness.

HJK haven’t had it easy in attack this season, with Roope Riski missing the majority of the campaign through injury.

With Radulovic also out in recent weeks, Malik Abubakari has started in attack but he has had just five goals to show from his 42 outings in all competitions.

Radulovic, meanwhile, has 11 in 35 and Koskela will be hoping he can rely on the 22-year-old Serb to lead his line against the Giallorossi.

MATCH STATS

HJK have lost six of their last seven matches against Italian opposition in Europe (W1, L6), with their most recent such victory coming over Torino back in 2014.

The hosts are also five games without a Europa League victory (D1, L4).

As for the visitors, this will be just Roma’s second trip to Finland in a major UEFA competition and first since a 1-1 draw with Ilves in the 1991-92 edition of the Cup Winners’ Cup.

The Giallorossi have scored in each of their previous 31 matches in Europe and have bagged 68 times in the process.

PLAYER STATS

• Paulo Dybala is Roma’s top scorer in all competitions this season with seven goals, including two in Group C.
  
• Belotti scored his first goal for the club in the 3-0 win over HJK in September and each of his two strikes in yellow and red so far have come in this tournament.
  
• Gianluca Mancini (345) has played the most minutes for Roma in this year’s UEL, missing just 15 minutes of a possible 360 across their opening four matches.
  
• Only Union Berlin captain Christopher Trimmel (11) has completed more crosses than Lorenzo Pellegrini (10) in the Europa League this season.

WHAT THEY SAID

"We are still in the competition. We have two games left, two games we need to win – if we don’t win those then we are out. But that’s a good thing too, because we can focus on ourselves – we don’t have to worry about other results elsewhere.”

- Mourinho on a crucial final two games in Group C