Jose Mourinho’s Roma are ready to grit their teeth in the cold as they travel to face HJK Helsinki in their Europa League outing tonight.
The match between the Finnish side and the Giallorossi kicks off at 20.00 UK time at the Bolt Arena in Helsinki.
Roma are in a tough position in Group C after four games, sitting three points behind second place Ludogorets and six points behind group leaders Real Betis. They cannot afford to drop points to HJK if they still want a hope of reaching the knock-out stages of the competition. Their last meeting with the Finnish side was a comfortable 3-0 win on a warm evening in Rome.
Mourinho will have to handle a number of absences in tonight’s clash, with Ebrima Darboe, Georginio Wijnaldum, Zeki Celik, Paulo Dybala and Nemanja Matic all unavailable due to injury.
HJK will have to do without defender Valtteri Moren, forward Roope Riski and the suspended Jukka Raitala.
Probable line-ups for HJK Helsinki vs Roma
HJK Helsinki (3-4-3): Hazard; Peltola, Hoskonen, Tenho; Soiri, Boujellab, Lingman, Browne; Olusanya, Abubakari, Hostikka.
Roma (3-4-1-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Zalewski, Cristante, Camara, El Shaarawy; Pellegrini; Abraham, Belotti.
This squad should be able to do the needful. Once you are a member of the team you should be ready to defend the shirt. No excuse. Goodluck to Roma