From star players to tactics: Finnish football expert with everything you need to know about Larne's Champions League opponents HJK Helsinki

The News Letter posed the all-important questions to Finnish football journalist Eetu Ikola, who gave us the lowdown on which HJK player could cause Tiernan Lynch’s side the most problems, what sort of form they enter the tie in and what we can expect from Helsinki at the Bolt Arena on Wednesday evening.

How have HJK Helsinki been performing so far this season?

Below expectations: As usual, HJK began the campaign as clear title favourites. However, they have truly struggled to find the same, scintillating form that led them to the Europa League group stage and Veikkausliiga title at the end of last year.

The Finnish championship tactician Toni Koskela, who received praise from AS Roma boss José Mourinho last season but is under scrutiny at the moment, saw several key players leave in the winter, effectively resulting in a weakened squad and an underwhelming start to the campaign.

Saturday’s shock defeat at home means HJK are in a three-game winless run having only won three of their last ten games in the league. Sure, there was a bit of rustiness before the beginning of last year’s Champions League qualifiers, but those 27 points from 14 games still feels remarkably better than the 28 points from 16 games now.

Goalscoring has proved to be the most significant difficulty of late, with only two goals scored from open play in the last seven games. The home leg against Larne could be the perfect chance for HJK to lift up the team morale and put the recent slump behind them.

Who is HJK’s most dangerous player that we should watch out for?

Topi Keskinen: Having initially taken the Finnish top-flight by storm, the young winger now has a chance to showcase his lightning-fast feet and exhilarating one-on-one-play on a European stage.

The winter signing from a division below made an instant impact by bagging four goals in one game in the League Cup before continuing to impress in the league with four assists and one goal in eleven starts.

How do HJK like to play and what is their style?

HJK prefer a more possession-based playing style where they control the ball inside the opposition half.

Koskela likes to utilise the full width of the pitch, operating a lot through the wings, where full-backs rise to offer support or throw crosses in early.

In some of the European games last season they were happy to sit back and aim at counters, but I would expect them to control the game against Larne.

Are hopes high in Finland that HJK can do well in Europe this season and how important are European fixtures for Finnish teams?

After making it into the group stage of both the Conference League and Europa League in the past two seasons, the expectation is to repeat the feat again.

As head coach Koskela said, it would be “silly” to even discuss anything else but making it into the group stage once again.

Also, playing in Europe is vital for HJK financially and a huge object for all bigger signings from abroad.

This is also why the first qualifying tie against Larne is so important, as a defeat in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers after that would still keep their hopes alive of making it to the Europa League or the Conference League.

The fans are expecting HJK to progress through to the next round and - despite the poor run of games - getting knocked out by Larne would be an enormous setback.