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HJK and Maribor will go head-to-head at the Sonera Stadium in the second leg of the third round of Europa League qualification fixtures on Thursday.
The Slovenian outfit will be looking to overturn their two-goal deficit after suffering a 2-0 defeat in last week’s reverse leg.
HJK were denied a fourth straight win in the Finish Veikkausliiga as they were held to a 1-1 draw by AC Oulu last Sunday.
They currently sit second in the league standings, level on 37 points with first-placed KuPS, who have a game in hand.
HJK have now turned their attention to the Europa League qualifiers, where they kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 first-leg victory over Maribor.
Maribor, meanwhile, continued to struggle in the Slovenian top-flight season as they fell to a 2-0 loss against Olimpija last time out.
They have now lost three of their opening four domestic games, with a 3-2 win over Gorica on July 23 being the only exception.
Maribor head into Thursday on a four-game losing streak across all competitions, scoring once and conceding seven goals in that time.
HJK vs Maribor Head-To-Head
This will be the second-ever meeting between HJK and Maribor, with their first encounter coming in last week’s reverse fixture, when the Finnish side claimed a 2-0 victory.
HJK Form Guide: D-W-W-L-W
Maribor Form Guide: L-L-L-L-W
HJK vs Maribor Team News
HJK
The home side will be without Manuel Martic, Roope Riski and Valtteri Moren, who are all recuperating from injuries.
Injured: Manuel Martic, Roope Riski, Valtteri Moren
Suspended: None
Maribor
Martin Milec, Max Watson, Azbe Jug and Aleks Pihler have all been ruled out through injuries and will sit out Thursday’s game.
Injured: Martin Milec, Max Watson, Azbe Jug, Aleks Pihler
Suspended: None
HJK vs Maribor Predicted XI
HJK Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Conor Hazard; Matti Peltola, Miro Tenho, Jukka Raitala; David Browne, Arttu Hoskonen, Santeri Väänänen, Lucas Lingman, Luis Murillo; Malik Abubakari, Anthony Olusanya
Maribor Predicted XI (3-5-2): Menno Bergsen; Andraž Žinič, Nemanja Mitrović, Max Watson, Gregor Sikošek; Jan Repas, Vladan Vidaković; Žan Vipotnik, Aljaž Antolin, Ivan Brnić; Roko Baturina
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HJK vs Maribor Prediction
HJK will be licking their lips as they welcome an out-of-sorts Maribor side who are on a four-game losing streak. We are backing the Finnish side to pick up where they dropped off last week and claim a second-leg victory in front of their home fans.
Prediction: HJK 2-0 Maribor
