Jippo Joensuu vs AC Oulu
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Today’s secondary featured game is the Ykkonen game between Jippo Joensuu and AC Oulu.
As ever, a difficult game looms large for AC Oulu as Joensuu is not a friendly place for visiting sides. Tight pitch, physical team, well-organised – Jippo are not a favourite for any side to face. Jippo have actually played really well of late too, which is concerning. They’re looked dangerous on counter-attacks and clinical in front of goal so they’re entitled to enter this game with some confidence, in my view. Jippo know that their home form is the sole reason that they’re still in the Ykkonen year after year so they’ll be very motivated here. They’re aware that AC Oulu are a bigger and better side than they are but they also know that bigger and better sides than AC Oulu have failed here before. Jippo have won their last two home games in a row and have already caused problems for high-flying SJK and Viikingit Helsinki this season, holding SJK to a 1-1 draw and losing a valiantly-fought game 0-1 against Viikingit. If we look back to last season, you can see that none of the heavyweight sides won here, which included FC Lahti, PK-35 Helsinki, Viikingit Helsinki, and today’s opponents AC Oulu with three of those games going under 2.5 goals. Jippo are a very well-organised side and do not concede goals easily so I think they’ll give a good account of themselves here.
I respect AC Oulu a lot and they’re definitely good enough to win here but as with all away games in Joensuu, they’re going to need a bit of luck to secure three points. The problem I have with AC Oulu on the road is that they’re just too cautious. At home, they’ll attack freely and score goals for fun as that’s what they’re capable of with Stafsula and the lethal Zeze leading the line. However, they fall back on their strong defence and “Italian” football away from home and although they don’t tend to concede many on the road, they don’t tend to win as many as a side of their quality should be winning. Say what you will about the difficulty of some of their away games this season – PK-35 Helsinki and RoPS Rovaniemi are very good sides, after all – but not scoring in three out of their four away games is not good enough. They were too defensive at Hameenlinna in their 1-0 loss and only managed to secure a 2-2 draw with HiFK Helsinki. AC Oulu are a very capable side but when they show it is rather predictably in their home games but not in their away games.
Therefore, backing a winner in this game is quite simply out of the question, in my view. I think the first goal will be crucial in deciding the outcome of this one as I don’t see either side being able to get back into this game after falling behind with some major refereeing assistance. With the above in mind, opting for under 2.5 goals appeals to me a lot at 5/6.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 5/6. Why not bet on this game now at William Hill?
Monday’s Picks
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!
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
FC Honka Espoo vs FC Lahti (7) 2-0
Jaro Pietarsaari vs MyPa Anjalankoski (7) 2-1
Inter Turku vs VPS Vaasa (4) 1-1
HJK Helsinki vs TPS Turku (7) 2-0
Haka Valkeakoski vs JJK Jyvaskyla (5) 1-2
KuPS Kuopio vs IFK Mariehamn (4) 1-1
Finnish Ykkonen:
Jippo Joensuu vs AC Oulu (5)
RoPS Rovaniemi vs Hameenlinna (8)
OPS Oulu vs KooTeePee Kotka (7)
PK-35 Helsinki vs Viikingit Helsinki (7)
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Kruoja Pakruojis vs Ekranas Panevezys (8) 0-2
Dainava vs Zalgiris Vilnius (7) 0-1
Swedish Superettan:
Degerfors vs Trelleborg FF (6)
Angelholm vs Ljungskile (6)
Falkenberg vs Jonkopings Sodra (5)
Landskrona BoIS vs Halmstad (5)
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