PEPO vs HIFK Helsinki
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Part-timers PEPO really shouldn’t stand a chance in today’s Suomen Cup meeting with HIFK Helsinki but as it turns out, this is a fine time to face the club from the capital.
You see, HIFK Helsinki took a gamble last season. They decided to try and cement their place in the Veikkausliiga and even push for a European place by investing heavily. They brought in Antti Muurinen as manager, who has previously coached Finland and HJK Helsinki to name a couple, which was a huge coup. They also signed the likes of Vayrynen, Forssell, and Makela, all of which commanded huge ways (for the Veikkausliiga) because they were all perceived to be too good for the club. I think all of those acquisitions were just peachy but HIFK Helsinki didn’t have enough quality in the rest of their team to help them out. Subsequently, HIFK Helsinki’s dream season rapidly turned into a horrible nightmare and they were eventually relegated in the play-off against FC Honka Espoo.
Now, there’s no club in the Ykkonen that can afford to pay big wages so I am not surprised that we’ve not seen Makela, Vayrynen, or Forssell turning out for HIFK Helsinki. Muurinen has gone. Gela and Ristola didn’t want to play at Ykkonen level so they joined FC Lahti and TPS Turku respectively. I’ve not heard a peep out of Sihvola and Anyamele so I don’t even know if they’re still at the club but they didn’t play against Gnistan last week.
Bluntly put, this HIFK Helsinki side has been absolutely decimated by relegation. I don’t even think they’ll get promoted this season without a lot of luck, although having said that, there really aren’t any teams in the Ykkonen that blow me away at the moment. To me, this looks like a very young and inexperienced HIFK Helsinki side. That doesn’t mean that they’re crap but it does mean that they’re going to find it a lot harder to win games of this nature, especially if they cannot beat Gnistan at home.
Therefore, I’m going to take a chance on this game going under 3 goals because I cannot see either team scoring more than a single goal without cataclysmic defending on the cards.
Verdict: Under 3 goals at 49/50.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Argentinian Superliga:
Estudiantes de la Plata vs Newell’s Old Boys
Arsenal de Sarandi vs Gimnasia de la Plata
San Lorenzo de Almagro vs Boca Juniors
Racing Club Avellaneda vs Atletico Huracan
Australian A-League:
Central Coast Mariners vs Western Sydney Wanderers
Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne City
Austrian Bundesliga:
Rapid Vienna vs Austria Vienna
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
RSC Anderlecht vs KV Mechelen
Club Brugge vs Sporting Charleroi
Zulte-Waregem vs KV Oostende
Danish DBU Pokalen:
FC Copenhagen vs Brondby
English Premier League:
Crystal Palace vs Newcastle United
Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur
Finnish Suomen Cup:
PEPO vs HIFK Helsinki
French Ligue 1:
Stade Rennais vs En Avant Guingamp
Stade Malherbe de Caen vs Nantes Atlantique
AS Monaco vs Olympique Lyonnais
German Bundesliga:
Augsburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Hamburger SV vs Hannover 96
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
MS Ashdod vs Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva
Italian Serie A;
Hellas Verona vs AS Roma
Atalanta Bergamo vs Chievo Verona
Bologna vs AC Fiorentina
Udinese vs AC Milan
Juventus vs Sassuolo
Cagliari vs SPAL
Benevento vs SSC Napoli
Dutch Eredivisie:
Excelsior Rotterdam vs FC Utrecht
AZ Alkmaar vs Roda JC Kerkrade
Sparta Rotterdam vs Willem II
VVV Venlo vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs NAC Breda
Portuguese Liga 1:
Feirense vs Chaves
Tondela vs Moreirense
Estoril vs Sporting Clube de Portugal
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Pacos de Ferreira
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academica de Coimbra vs Santa Clara
Academico Viseu vs Arouca
Varzim vs SL Benfica II
Uniao Madeira vs Gil Vicente
Real vs Vitoria Guimaraes II
FC Porto II vs Leixoes Matosinhos
Sporting Braga II vs Penafiel
Sporting Covilha vs UD Oliveirense
Cova Piedade vs Sporting Clube de Portugal II
Famalicao vs CD Nacional de Madeira
Romanian Liga:
Botosani vs Juventus Bucharest
Dinamo Bucharest vs CS U Craiova
Spanish Primera Liga:
Getafe vs Leganes
RCD Espanyol vs Barcelona CF
Girona vs Athletic Club de Bilbao
Atletico Madrid vs Valencia CF
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Lugano
Sion vs Grasshopper Zurich
FC Zurich vs Thun
Swiss Challenge League:
Winterthur vs Rapperswil-Jona
Turkish Super Lig:
Osmanlispor vs Kayserispor
Kasimpasa vs Akhiraspor
Konyaspor vs Istanbul BB
Sivasspor vs Galatasaray
Enjoy your free betting tips!