It is a clash between two sides that recently dropped from the UEFA Champions League as NK Maribor host HJK Helsinki in the first leg of their Europa League third round qualifier.
Maribor are in the Europa League after falling 1-0 on aggregate to Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol in the previous round of the Champions League. They were held to a 0-0 home draw in the first leg before suffering a 1-0 defeat in the second fixture in Moldova.
That result is an extension of Maribor's poor general form this season as they are also struggling on the domestic scene. The Slovenians have claimed just one win from three matches in the local league and were beaten 2-1 by Koper in their previous fixture last Saturday.
Things are just as difficult for Maribor at home where they have claimed just one win from their last four matches across all competitions. A slight positive for manager Radovan Karanovic is that they have only lost once in that run while also playing out two draws, including a 0-0 scoreline with Sheriff Tiraspol in the previous round.
Helsinki are further along in their domestic campaign than Maribor having played 17. The Finnish side have claimed 11 league wins already, including a 2-1 victory over Mariehamm last Saturday and are currently second in the league.
Unfortunately for Helsinki, they failed to transmit their domestic form into their European games as they were beaten home and away by Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League. They fell 2-1 at home in the first leg before suffering a humiliating 5-0 defeat in the Czech Republic.
Also problematic for Helsinki is a poor run on their recent travels where they have claimed just one win from their last five away matches across all competitions. Toni Koskela’s men are also winless in their last six away matches in the Europa League, although two of the most recent three have ended in draws.
How the bookies view it
Maribor have the edge among the bookies with a home win priced at 27/20 by Coral. A victory for Helsinki is valued at 5/2 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 9/4 by bet365.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between NK Maribor and HJK Helsinki.
Players to watch
Despite Maribor’s struggles this season, Roko Baturina appears to be having a fine campaign. The attacker has scored four goals in his last six appearances and is priced at 12/5 by Unibet to get on the score sheet on Thursday.
Helsinki also have some attacking quality of their own with Abdul Malik Abubakari often tasked with leading the line. Unibet has the forward at odds of 43/20 to get on the score sheet on Thursday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Neither team has shown any kind of defensive solidity lately and with both sides boasting some attacking quality, there are likely to be goals here. Over 3.5 goals is priced at 19/5 by BetVictor, over 2.5 goals is valued at 11/8 by Unibet while SBK is offering odds of 42/41 on both teams to score.
Thursday’s clash is likely to come to life after the break which means both teams could be backed to score in the second half at 3/1 with bet365.
This UEFA Europa League match between NK Maribor and HJK Helsinki will be played on Aug 4, 2022 and kick off at 19:15. Check below for our tipsters best NK Maribor vs HJK Helsinki prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
Hello! Again me….Maribor fan. So the write up about Maribors form is correct about scores. But there are other important facts. Maribors primary goal is securing a group stage of any European leagues. So our trainer made some big rotations in domestic leaguea…..playing mainly with second or bench players. Secondly…we sold our best midfilder ….Makambou….it is hard to replace him. So the team must start build connection all over again. And most important……Maribor was till now played mainly defensive footbal….im not fan of that historical approach (italian catanacio)….from now on, Maribor must start playing offensivly. Because Maribor fans can not tollerate that we play defensivly against clubs we thing we should win easy(this is not underestimation of Finnish clubs). Also in domestic leaguae we are already 6 points behind biggest rivals…so we can not afford to lose much more.
So point is there should be goals tonight, btts……i also expect over 3 goals…and Maribor over 5 team corners.
Good luck all!