We head into match week four in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, and in Group G we have a clash between HJK Helsinki of Finland and Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany. The away side know a win here will either put them on the cusp of qualification, or put them through on the night, if other results go their way.
HJK Helsinki Form GuideThree games in and HJK Helsinki are without a win, two losses and one draw in the middle of them gives them just one point here. A loss on Thursday and Helsinki are out so this is a massive game for them, but so far, they've not appeared to have the quality to cope with the other teams in this group.
On top of that, the Finnish league has come to an end, so Helsinki are at the end of their season, tired and haven't played since they last played in this competition, two weeks ago. That was a dreadful game for them too, they were beaten 6-0 by their opponents here, Frankfurt, while in their other two games, they drew with Aberdeen and lost to PAOK.
Eintracht Frankfurt Form GuideFrankfurt have been strong in the Europa Conference League, and are expected to go well in this competition. They come here to play Helsinki again, on the back of beating them 6-0, and since then they've been unbeaten. That includes a 3-3 draw with Dortmund, and more recently, they won 3-0 away at Union Berlin at the weekend.
It was more than comfortable for Frankfurt when they beat Helsinki, they didn't need to get out of first gear. Helsinki looked tired, a team at the end of a long season, and because of this competition, they are not done yet. Going away makes this tougher, but there is still a lot to like about the chances of Frankfurt.
Match PredictionWhile this is likely to be a little tougher for Frankfurt, I still think they have more than enough to get a job done away from home, and they are my pick to win this game.
