FC Lahti vs KTP
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Today’s free tip is in the Finnish Suomen Cup encounter between FC Lahti and KTP.
As mentioned in the HJK vs HIFK preview, FC Lahti had a man sent off in their 1-1 draw last weekend, which was Hertsi. That wasn’t they desired effect of bringing him back to the club after his stint in northern Finland with AC Oulu, but there we go; the rapid winger will sit today’s game out as a consequence of such. Am I concerned by that? Not really, partially because of the quality of the FC Lahti midfield, and partially because of the lack of quality in the KTP camp.
I do think that Hertsi will bring some much-needed dynamic attacking this season. I was surprised when they sold him, to be frank, but at least he’s back now. He’s by no means the only one that can beat his man in this squad but having more than one is always better than over-relying on an individual, isn’t it? I mean, Assehnoun was marvellous last season but it’s little more than blind luck that some club out there didn’t take a punt on him when they should have; I’ll be amazed if he’s still donning the black-and-white come 2022. Bringing Hertsi back now is a smart move from outspoken boss Zeneli, who is simply trying to keep one step ahead.
Like I said in my preview of FC Lahti vs HJK Helsinki last weekend, FC Lahti have a very settled squad right now. They’ve not lost many players, and most of their best players of last season have stayed (e.g. Coubronne, Assehnoun, Klinga). They’ve added experienced goalkeeper Reguero to replace Rakovsky, and the players already in their squad will replace Kuningas. The only real question mark I have over the FC Lahti squad is in attack. I know that Zeneli didn’t take well to Hambo for some reason, so he’s now moved to IFK Mariehamn. They’ve signed towering Yli-Hietanen from Ykkonen club TPV, who is unproven at this level, as well as bringing in Espinosa from TPS. The latter is the more exciting signing because of how well he performed in the Ykkonen but he never got chance to show if he’s Veikkausliiga material or not because of a bad injury suffered at the start of last season, limiting his opportunities for playing considerably. FC Lahti have been very bold, signing him after that, but it has the potential to be the signing of the season – if he adjusts. Youngster Zeqiri wants more game time too, don’t forget. FC Lahti are not short of options; I’m just not sold on the idea of being able to 100% trust any of them at this time.
That said, their midfield is excellent. Again, I’ve no idea how they kept Assehnoun pre-season. Klinga is a solid midfielder, and they did really well to keep wonderkid Virta too, whom HJK are still sniffing around but were put off by his injury problems last season. Their defence looks solid too, and having a boss like Zeneli will usually be a plus, even if his comments to the media are both confusing and beguiling. Long story short though, I like where FC Lahti are at, and I see no reason for them to not prove why today.
KTP have just returned to the Veikkausliiga, and for my money, I think they’re going straight back down. True enough, there’s still another couple of months before the Veikkausliiga starts and a lot can happen during that time. It’s just that the changes they’ve made thus far are…well, irrelevant, really. Estonian boss Arbeiter did well with this group of randomers last season because he pulled a few strings with those he used to work with in the Meistriliiga (e.g. Ojamaa and Begrashvili), who were both too good for Ykkonen level. The trouble is that other clubs noticed that too, and subsequently signed Ojamaa (Flora Paide) and Begrashvili (FCI Levadia Tallinn). Young defender Ollila also left, joining Ilves, and Spanish defender Ruxi moved to AC Oulu. That’s most of their back four gone, as well as their main creator.
I don’t think anybody knows if star striker Mika from last season is still on their books or not; he didn’t play against HIFK, and there’s not much to entice him back to the club really. The only player left that I know to be good enough to play at this level is Ramadingaye, and I was surprised when he opted not to play at this level anymore. He should be good enough to make things happen for them this season. He’s on his own, though – I’ll say that much! All KTP have done pre-season is to loan young forward Tamminen from RoPS, experienced midfielder Laaksonen from IFK Mariehamn (should be a solid enough move), and then bring forward Tarvonen back from KPV. The latter is the most hilarious as he already proved in the past (for KTP, no less!) that he can’t play against the top teams in Finland. Yet, here he is, expected to carry the team. Also, they recently signed Spanish defender Alvarez from FC Schaffhausen in Switzerland, and he made his debut just two days after joining. Doesn’t that say it all about where the team is at?
Some of these former Ykkonen footballers will adapt to the Veikkausliiga; most won’t, though. This is a seriously competitive division nowadays; even HJK know it, and they’re twice as good as most clubs. KTP have wandered into a league that is beyond them, and they’re yet to do anywhere near enough for it. A trip to face a good, settled FC Lahti side looks too much for them, as was hosting a much-changed HIFK last weekend, seemingly. For me, the -1 Asian Handicap for FC Lahti is worth taking at 53/50.
Verdict: FC Lahti to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 53/50.
Saturday’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. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Wolfsberger AC vs Admira Wacker
SCR Altach vs Rapid Vienna
Swarovski Tirol vs Salzburg
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Waasland-Beveren vs AS Eupen
Sint-Truiden vs Zulte-Waregem
KV Oostende vs Racing Genk
Brazilian Serie A:
Goias vs Botafogo
Atletico Mineiro vs Bahia
Santos vs Coritiba
Bulgarian A PFG:
Botev Vratsa vs Beroe
Cherno More Varna vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Slavia Sofia vs CSKA Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Gorica vs Sibenik
Dinamo Zagreb vs NK Osijek
Czechia Liga 1:
Opava vs Marila Pribram
Zbrojovka Brno vs Zlin
Slavia Prague vs Pardubice
English Premier League:
Leicester City vs Liverpool
Crystal Palace vs Burnley
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Aston Villa
Finnish Suomen Cup:
KuPS vs SJK
TPS vs MuSa
HJK vs HIFK
FC Lahti vs KTP
Ilves vs AC Oulu
FC Honka Espoo vs Haka Valkeakoski
Ekenas IF vs PK-35 Helsinki
MP vs Klubi-04
Jaro Pietarsaari vs KPV
Gnistan vs Jippo Joensuu
French Ligue 1:
Paris Saint-Germain vs OGC Nice
Stade de Reims vs Racing Club Lens
Olympique Lyonnais vs Montpellier HSC
German Bundesliga:
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs TSG Hoffenheim
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Mainz 05
Werder Bremen vs SC Freiburg
VfB Stuttgart vs Hertha Berlin
Union Berlin vs Schalke 04
German Bundesliga 2:
Hamburger SV vs Greuther Furth
Heidenheim vs Erzgebirge Aue
Jahn Regensburg vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
SV Sandhausen vs Karlsruher SC
Hungarian Liga 1:
Puskas FC vs Paksi SE
Varda SE vs Zalaegerszegi TE
Budapest Honved vs Budafoki MTE
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Haifa vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva
MS Ashdod vs Bnei Sakhnin
Hapoel Kfar Saba vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Italian Serie A:
Torino vs Genoa
SSC Napoli vs Juventus
Spezia vs AC Milan
Italian Serie B:
Pordenone vs Cittadella
Salernitana vs Vicenza
Cremonese vs Lecce
Pescara vs Venezia
SPAL vs Empoli
Dutch Eredivisie:
ADO Den Haag vs PSV Eindhoven
FC Groningen vs PEC Zwolle
Sparta Rotterdam vs Fortuna Sittard
Heracles Almelo vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
Portuguese Liga 1:
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Farense
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Rio Ave
FC Porto vs Boavista
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academica de Coimbra vs Cova de Piedade
Arouca vs Varzim
Sporting Covilha vs Vizela
Spanish Primera Liga:
Granada vs Atletico Madrid
Sevilla vs Huesca
Eibar vs Real Valladolid
Barcelona vs Deportivo Alaves
Swiss Super League:
Lausanne Sport vs Servette
FC Sion vs St. Gallen
Swiss Challenge League:
Aarau vs Neuchatel Xamax
Chiasso vs FC Schaffhausen
Winterthur vs SC Kriens
Turkish Super Lig:
Kayserispor vs Ankaragucu
Trabzonspor vs Gazisehir Gaziantep
Fatih Karagumruk vs Fenerbahce
Enjoy your free betting tips!