FC Lahti vs KuPS Kuopio
FreeToday’s featured game is the Veikkausliiga encounter between FC Lahti and KuPS Kuopio. Hosts FC Lahti are staring down the barrel of relegation unless things pick up quickly whereas visitors KuPS are flying high despite being a mere mid-table side at best. With the above in mind, this should be quite a good game today.
FC Lahti have one game in fourteen Veikkausliiga attempts this season, which says it all really. They’ve lost half of those games and are the lowest scoring side in the division by a mile, hence their predicament. Defensively, they’re a decent enough side but if you don’t score goals then you’re no threat to anybody. What’s even worse for Lahti is that they barely have a home advantage, losing six out of seven times at home already this season, leaking over two goals per home game on average and barely managing to score a goal per every two home games. The only point that they’ve taken at home this season was against JJK Jyvasklya and the only reason that Lahti got that point was because JJK didn’t score. The moral here is that if you score at Lahti, you win – that’s how it’s been so far this season. I’ll give Lahti some credit as three out of their four goals scored at home this season have come in their last two home games so things are picking up a little. However, there’s no denying that this side are very much capable of losing to anyone in this division currently, particularly with three defeats from their last four games, so they’re a useful opponent for in-form KuPS today.
KuPS Kuopio enter this game in buoyant moods following their heroic win in Helsinki last match against HJK. Revenge is allegedly a dish best served cold and cold is how they did it, beating the giants 2-1 despite having already lost 5-0 to them at home this season. They’ll have a strong sense of belief in themselves, which benefits them more than most sides as they’re very much a momentum side. They’ll feel that anything is possible, which is useful, as they’ve not beaten FC Lahti in the Veikkausliiga in their last thirteen attempts! KuPS aren’t as good as the table portrays them to be – do bear that in mind today. I do loathe it when people look at the table and just remark that “A” must be far better than “B” because of the table – do some bloody homework! Who can fault little KuPS though? They’ve won half of their away games in the Veikkausliiga this season, which is as good as winning the title anyway in Finland! They’ve looked potent and confident on the ball and all that has let them down on occasions is their average defence. However, three wins and one draw from their last four games is impressive enough for me to back them today, particularly as they’ve won two away games during that run, they’ve kept two clean sheets, and notched up nine goals along the way. KuPS are a funny side but I do love to back them when they’re in-form – they just become a side that they’re frankly not good enough to be on a consistent basis!
The one massive concern I have about this game is that if the Veikkausliiga odds look too good to be true, then chances are that they don’t come in. It’s superstitious maybe but I have a very funny feeling about this game. Nonetheless, I have to call the away win here because there is value in the away win for the in-form visitors against the impotent hosts so that is my selection of the day but do approach with caution, particularly as FC Lahti are the bigger side, they can defend on their day, and have improved a little of late.
Verdict: KuPS Kuopio to win at 8/5.
Friday’s Picks
My tips:
Metalist Kharkiv vs Dynamo Kiev – lay Dynamo Kiev at evens.
In Ukraine, there are five good sides and the rest battle for the remaining places, bluntly. There are other quality gaps there but there’s no sense going into that in great detail currently as it has no relevance to this bet. Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk are the two giants of the Ukrainian Premier League and Metalist Kharkiv, Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk, and Metalurg Donetsk battle for third and fourth place respectively. Basically, Metalist are a side that are capable of causing problems to Dynamo Kiev and this is the perfect time for them to do so. They’ve made some good acquisitions in the transfer window, their most impressive signature being River Plate full-back Cristian Villagra, who has a good level of ability. Metalist are yet to concede a goal in their two games played this season so they’ve started their campaign fairly well. However, that should change today as there’s always goals in Kharkiv when Dynamo come to town – there’s been at least two goals per game in Kharkiv in the Premier League for four consecutive meetings. However, Dynamo haven’t looked themselves yet this season, just like Shakhtar – the Ukrainian season is yet to settle down, basically. Gazzaev still has some problems to resolve at Dynamo but they’ve made some very good acquisitions in the transfer window too so it shouldn’t take hime too long to settle them down. However, the odds on the away win today are too short if you consider that Dynamo aren’t at their best yet and Metalist are a resilient and talented side that are capable of stopping them.
I’m not saying that this selection is a banker but there’s no way Dynamo have earned such short odds today with little to back it up at the moment. For me, laying the visitors today has some real value and I look forward to seeing how Gazzaev’s Kiev handle the tough trip to Kharkiv.
Verdict: Lay Dynamo Kiev at evens.
There aren’t any accumulator bets that appeal to me today, sorry! But for my thoughts on the remaining games today, see below:
Austrian Liga 1:
St.Polten vs Gratkorn (6)
Admira Wacker vs Hartberg (7)
WAC/St.Andra vs First Vienna (5)
Lustenau vs Grodig (5)
SCR Altach vs Austria Lustenau (7) both sides to score
Croatian Prva Liga:
NK Zagreb vs Lokomotiva Zagreb (5) 1-1
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
FC Lahti vs KuPS Kuopio (5) 1-2
Ecuadorian Primera A:
Liga de Quito vs Barcelona Guayaquil (6) 1-0
Deportivo Quito vs Independiente (6) 2-1
Irish Premier League
Galway United vs Dundalk (4) 1-0
Bray Wanderers vs Bohemians (6) 0-1
Drogheda United vs Sligo Rovers (6) 0-0
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Banga Gargzdai vs Klaipeda (7) 2-0
Romanian Liga:
Sportul Studentesc vs Otelul Galati (5) 0-1, draw no bet
Pandurii Targu Jiu vs Unirea Urziceni (5) 0-0
Rapid Bucharest vs SC Vaslui (6) 1-1
Singaporean S-League:
Sengkang Punggol vs Balestier Khalsa (5) 1-1
Ukrainian Premier League:
Volyn Lutsk vs Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (3) 0-1
Metalist Kharkiv vs Dynamo Kiev (4) 1-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!