HJK Helsinki vs Red Star Belgrade Match Info
Date: Wednesday July 31 2019
Kick-off time: 5.00pm BST
Venue: Telia 5G Arena
Referee: Alain Bieri (Switzerland)
HJK Helsinki vs Red Star Belgrade Head-To-Head Record
3 previous competitive matches
July 24 2019: Red Star Belgrade 2-0 HJK Helsinki
August 28 1997: Red Star Belgrade 3-0 HJK Helsinki
August 14 1997: HJK Helsinki 1-0 Red Star Belgrade
HJK Helsinki vs Red Star Belgrade Stats
- The previous European matches between these clubs occurred in the UEFA Cup-Winners’ Cup qualifying round – Red Star Belgrade lost their next tie to Belgian club Beerschot
- HJK Helsinki are the only Finnish club Red Star Belgrade have played in UEFA competitions
- HJK have faced one other Serbian team, losing 2-1 at home to Partizan Belgrade in 2010
HJK Helsinki vs Red Star Belgrade Match Preview
Red Star Belgrade remain on course to secure a second consecutive Champions League group-stage appearance and should ensure they advance to the next qualifying round when they visit Finland.
Serbia’s most famous football club, who were European champions in 1991, had not qualified for the round-robin phase of the continent’s elite competition since the season after their biggest triumph until they finally made it back there last term after a 26-year absence.
But any hopes of reliving the glory days of the early nineties were quickly extinguished when Red Star found themselves in with Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Liverpool, unsurprisingly finishing bottom of the table despite beating the English club who went on to lift the trophy!
However, at least Crvena Zvezda, as they are known locally, have a chance of reaching the last 32 again and after beating Lithuanian champions Suduva Marijampole in their opening tie, they travel to Helsinki with a 2-0 aggregate lead thanks to goals last week from Richmond Boakye and Milan Pavkov.
It looks a long way back for HJK, who are also in danger of losing their domestic title at the halfway stage of this campaign because they have been drawing too many games, the latest of which came at the weekend at home to VPS Vaasa.
In contrast, Red Star are flying with four clean sheets out of five this season and a 2-1 victory the only exception to that, and they are expected to book a meeting with, probably, Copenhagen in the next round by winning again in the Finnish capital.
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HJK Helsinki vs Red Star Belgrade Betting Tips
Red Star Belgrade to win @ 9/10 with Unibet
Red Star Belgrade HT/FT @ 39/20 with Unibet