Preview: Rigas Futbola Skola vs. HJK Helsinki – prediction, team news, lineups
Sports Mole presents Tuesday’s Champions League match between Rigas Futbola Skola and HJK Helsinki, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
HJK Helsinki the goal is to reserve a place for the second qualifying round the Champions League when they travel Rigas Futbola Skola on Tuesday night for the second leg of their competition.
The visitors are in a strong position to reach the next stage of the competition, having won 1-0 in the first leg of their match last week. Manuel Martic in the Finnish outfit’s leaderboard.
Match preview
RFS won last year’s Latvian Premier League to secure their place in the first qualifying round of the Champions League, but have a huge task to progress to the next stage, having lost 1-0 to HJK in the first leg last week.
Rigas won their first-ever Latvian top-flight title last year, finishing with 66 points from 28 matches, and they are aiming to reach the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.
Viktors Morozsthe team’s team was eliminated in the first qualifying round of both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 Europa League campaigns, but they reached the third qualifying round of the 2021–22 Europa Conference League, losing to Belgium’s Gent 3–2 on aggregate. .
RFS have 20 games into their domestic league campaign and are second in the table with 45 points, while they come into this match after beating Spartaks Jurmala in the Latvian Cup 4-0 on Saturday.
The Latvian side have actually won three of their last four games in all competitions, scoring 10 goals in the process, but they will have everything to do on Tuesday as they lost the first leg 1-0 to HJK.
The visitors played in the European Conference League last season, but failed to make it past the group stage and finished third in their section, where they faced LASK, Alashkert and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
HJK is the most successful team in the history of Finnish football, having won the highest division 31 times. Last season’s success saw them reach the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
Toni KoskelaThe team’s team was eliminated in the second qualifying round of the Champions League last season, losing 4-3 on aggregate to Malmö, but nevertheless played in the group stage of the 1998-99 European Cup and is the only Finnish team to have played. in the actual Champions League.
HJK are also on a roll in their domestic league season, playing 14 times and picking up 27 points from their 14 matches, which has left them second in the table, three points behind KuPS.
However, the Finns have not played since the first leg, as their next league match is against VPS on the 16th. July, so they should be in good shape for the second leg with Rigas.
Rigas Futbola Skola Champions League format:
Rigas Futbola Skola format (all competitions):
HJK Helsinki Champions League format:
HJK Helsinki format (all competitions):
Team news
Riga have not reported any further injury problems since the first leg last week, so it would not be a surprise to see the majority of the XI back on the field.
Emerson will again play in the final third, but there may be a change in the attacking zone Renars Varslavans possibly displacing Kevin Friesenbichler.
Andrej Ilic has been in strong form for the RFS this season, netting 12 times in the league, and the 22-year-old will be in the starting line-up again on Tuesday.
As for HJK, the former Celtic goalkeeper Conor Hazard played between the sticks in the first leg and is expected to take the field again on Tuesday night.
The guests have not been active since the first leg, and the club has not announced any fitness problems, so head coach Koskela could send them on the field intact.
HJK played a 3-4-3 formation in the first match against Rigas and it is expected to be the same here, with the on-loan striker Bojan Radulovic lead the line.
Rigas Futbola Skola’s possible starting line-up:
Cerniauskas; Sorokins, Jagodinskis, Lipuscek, Mares; Panic, Zjuzins; Varslavans, Saric, Emerson; Ilic
HJK Helsinki possible starting line-up:
Wrong; Raitala, Hoskonen, Tenho; Peltola, Vaananen, Martic, Murilo; Soiri, Radulovic, Olusanya
We say: Rigas Futbola Skola 1-2 HJK Helsinki
Riga will certainly be able to reverse the tie at home, but we will have a hard time defending the Latvian side on Tuesday night. HJK have put themselves in a strong position to progress, and we expect them to also win the second leg in Riga 3-1 on aggregate.
To analyze the most likely results, score points and other information for this match Click here.
Top tip
Our expert tip partner at Sportita.com predict under 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and more of their proven football tips.Below 2.5: data