HJK Helsinki vs Ludogorets Razgrad Match Analysis and Prediction

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Finnish champions HJK Helsinki go head to head with Bulgarian top flight winners Ludogorets Razgrad at the Bolt Arena for their Europa League encounter on Thursday.

While the hosts are yet to pick up a single point, their visitors secured three points from their opening two matches in Group C.

HJK Helsinki have endured an inconsitent run of form in recent weeks, alternating between victory and defeat in each of their last seven games.

Toni Koskela’s side bounced back from a 3-1 away defeat to FC Honka with a 3-0 victory at home to Inter Turku last weekend, with Anthony Olusanya bagging a brace before Bojan Radulovic helped seal the win with a late penalty.

Klubi will now briefly turn their attention to Europa League action where they are seeking to pick up their first points in Group C after losing their opening two games to Roma and Real Betis by an aggregate score of 5-0.

Koskela’s side have lost just three of their last 16 home matches across all competitions since the beginning of May, so they will feel confident of prevailing in front of their own fans on Thursday.

After claiming a 2-1 home victory over Roma in their opening Europa League match in September, Ludogorets have since won just one of their last four games across all competitions.

Ludogorets have dropped four points from their last two league matches and have subsequently dropped three points behind the summit, although with two games in hand.

While Ante Simundza’s side are sure to have one eye on next Monday’s encounter with second-placed CSKA Sofia, they will now be focused on Thursday’s tie with HJK.

The Eagles have struggled away from home in the Europa League in recent campaigns, having failed to win any of their last eight away matches.

HJK Helsinki vs Ludogorets Razgrad head to head

These two teams have not previously met in any competition and this will be their first meeting in the Europa League group stages.

HJK Helsinki latest home form

HJK Helsinki have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their eight most recent matches. They defeated Inter Turku 3-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded four.

HJK 1-0 SJK 28/08/22

HJK 2-1 HIFK 08/09/22

HJK 0-2 Real Betis 08/09/22

HJK 2-1 SJK 18/09/22

HJK 3-0 Inter Turku 02/10/22

HJK Helsinki latest away form

HJK Helsinki have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having lost each of their two most recent matches. They were beaten 3-1 by Honka in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded eight.

Haka 0-3 HJK 21/08/22

Silkeborg 1-1 HJK 25/08/22

Honka 1-2 HJK 11/09/22

Roma 3-0 HJK 15/09/22

Honka 3-1 HJK 29/09/22

Ludogorets Razgrad latest home form

Ludogorets Razgrad have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. They played out a 1-1 draw with Arda in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded four.

Ludogorets 1-0 Zalgiris 18/08/22

Ludogorets (P)2-2 Levski Sofia 01/09/22

Ludogorets 6-0 Hebar 1918 04/09/22

Ludogorets 2-1 Roma 08/09/22

Ludogorets 1-1 Arda 18/09/22

Ludogorets Razgrad latest away form

Ludogorets Razgrad have recently been on a downward turn of form on the road, having lost each of their two most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Lokomotiv Sofia 1929 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded nine.

Zalgiris 3-3 Ludogorets 25/08/22

Cherno more 2-3 Ludogorets 29/08/22

Botev Vratsa 0-4 Ludogorets 11/09/22

Real Betis 3-2 Ludogorets 15/09/22

Lokomotiv Sofia 1929 1-0 Ludogorets 01/10/22

HJK Helsinki news

HJK will be without striker Roope Riski due to a knee injury, while captain Miro Tenho is suspended after picking up a straight red card in just the 14th minute against Roma.

Malik Abubakari should join Radulovic up front in the absence of Riski, while Aapo Halme could replace Tenho in the back three.

Ludogorets Razgrad news

Ludogorets Razgrad midfielders Dominik Yankov and Claude Goncalves are both ruled out with respective knee and back injuries.

Kiril Despodov, Bernard Tekpetey and Cauly could all retain their place in attack, while Rick will be pushing to start after scoring off the bench in the 3-2 defeat to Real Betis.

Prediction and Odds

HJK Helsinki head into the contest considered as slight underdogs and the pressure is on them to pick up maximum points for the first time in Group C.

However, Ludogorets can boost their chances of advancing from the group with a victory here, especially if they produce a similar performance as they did against Roma.

Odds: 1 2.32 X 2.05 2 2.16