Aberdeen and HJK Helsinki square off in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening aware that they can ill-afford a second successive defeat.
The Scottish and Finnish sides have already lost to Eintracht Frankfurt and PAOK respectively to sit three points adrift of their more illustrious opponents in Group G.
Match preview
There have been times this season where they honeymoon period for Barry Robson at Aberdeen has looked over, with their resurgence from the back end of 2022-23 having not been maintained.
In recent matches, though, the Dons have found something extra with a valiant effort in a 2-1 reverse to Eintracht Frankfurt being followed by three successive wins in all competitions.
Victories over Ross County in the Scottish Premiership and League Cup were expected - Aberdeen prevailing 4-0 and 2-1 respectively - but few envisaged another success at Rangers last weekend.
The visitors were already 2-0 to the good at Ibrox before their cause was helped by a sending off for their hosts, and they ultimately came through with a 3-1 win.
That was only enough to move Aberdeen into seventh spot in the Scottish top flight, highlighting their previous struggles, yet the platform has been set to enjoy a productive night in continental action.
Nevertheless, Helsinki will provide Aberdeen with another European test having been level with PAOK until the final 10 minutes of their matchday-one meeting in Finland.
By comparison, PAOK recorded a 6-1 aggregate victory over Scottish side Hearts in the playoffs, and the results over that double-header will ensure that Robson and his Aberdeen side will recognise the potential of HJK, even though they are the minnows of the group.
Since July 8, their only defeats have come in European action, with a total of eight wins from nine fixtures establishing a six-point lead at the top of the Finnish top flight.
However, you have to go back to August 2022 since Helsinki posted an away win in a continental competition, something that Toni Korkeakunnas will know needs to change sooner rather than later.
Team News
With a five-day gap since their win over Rangers, Robson may be prepared to name the same Aberdeen XI for what is a crucial fixture.
While Duk is naturally an option to come back into the starting lineup, it would likely come on the flank rather than ahead of centre-forward Bojan Miovski.
Finnish defender Richard Jensen is in line to face a team where he briefly spent some time during his youth career.
Goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa remains on the sidelines for HJK with the injury that he sustained in the encounter with PAOK.
Jesse Ost will continue to deputise between the sticks but Georgios Kanellopoulos - who was injured in the same game - has since recovered.
Topi Keskinen is an option to feature in the final third after scoring versus Honka last time out.
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Devlin, Gartenmann, Rubezic, Jensen, McKenzie; Polvara, Shinnie, Clarkson, McGrath; Miovski
HJK Helsinki possible starting lineup:
Ost; Raitala, Da Graca, Toivio; Soiri, Lingman, Kanellopoulos, Hamalainen; Keskinen, Radulovic, Bande
We say: Aberdeen 1-1 HJK Helsinki
With both teams heading into this contest aware that they cannot afford to lose twice in a row, we expect a tense affair, one that will feature few goals. Although Aberdeen are on a high from the weekend, this is a pressure game, and the visitors could do enough to earn a point.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
