HJK HELSINKI and Aberdeen have only pride…and the small matter of around £600,000 for the win…to play for in their penultimate Europa Conference League game in Finland.
It's been a case of what might have been for the Dons in Europe this season. They could easily have taken a point from Eintracht Frankfurt and blew a two-goal lead at home to POAK and they also drew in Greece.
But it matters little because they are already out and they go into this game with a sense of grievance they seem to have carried with them all season.
Boss Barry Robson has complained his way through the campaign and was irate after a late VAR penalty was awarded to Rangers to cost them a win against the Ibrox side on Sunday.
However, they still sit in a miserable ninth place in the table and are just three points off bottom spot.
HJK are on their winter break at the moment – they last played a league game in the Veikkausliga on October 21, but since then have been hammered by Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0 in Germany, although they only lost the return game in Finland 1-0.
So rustiness could be a factor for them.
How the bookies view it
The layers side with the hosts here at 13/10 with bet365. The Dons can be backed to get their first win in Europe this season at 2/1 with UniBet. The draw is 13/5 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
The side couldn't be separated at Pittodrie with Helsinki taking the lead before Bojan Miovski rescued a point for Aberdeen in what was an even game.
Players to watch
Serbian hitman Bojan Radulovic has an outstanding record this season of 15 goals including at Pittodrie when the sides met earlier this season. He is 5/4 to score anytime with Paddy Power.
There must be a good chance Bojan Miovski gets a rest here – he must have a sore back from carrying the Dons this season. Duk started and scored in Greece and must have a reasonable chance of doing so again. He is 9/4 to net anytime with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's forecast to be around -7 in Helsinki for this game and the 1,528 Dons fans going may only be warmed up by a point in the freezing Finnish capital.
Aberdeen haven't won a game in Europe this season – in fact they have only won six in 21 all season and all the bleating in the world about decisions going against them won't change that. They can't be trusted to win at a difficult venue where both Eintracht Frankfurt and PAOK only won by one goal.
However, the Finns are no great shakes either.
The Dons continued their quite incredible corners record on Sunday. They have now gone 357 minutes without winning one – almost four entire games. Back under 11 corners with bet365 at 10/11.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between HJK Helsinki and Aberdeen will be played on Nov 30, 2023 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best HJK Helsinki vs Aberdeen prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
