KuPS Kuopio vs JJK Jyvaskyla
FreeWell, after another disappointing day, I’m left wondering whether it’s purely bad luck or whether it’s just end-of-season blues?! Either way, luck hasn’t been on our side lately but hopefully that will take a dramatic turn in the near future with most leagues having now ended and the remaining leagues all mid-season.
Before beginning my preview, however, I have a few quick shout-outs for some sides:
First of all – congratulations to Bursaspor, who have won the Super Lig for the first time thanks to relentless efficiency, uplifting performances from some future stars and some old hands, but overall just dogged tenacity and clinical attacking. Wonderkid Sercan Yildrim will no doubt be cast into the limelight as a result and a move to a big club will surely beckon moreso than normal but my congratulations to Bursaspor for exploiting what has been a disappointing season for all of Istanbul’s clubs and I look forward to seeing them in the UEFA Champions League next season as a result.
Secondly, a big congratulations to Randers for beating the Superligaen drop. An amazing run in the second half of their campaign which saw them suffer just one defeat in fifteen games saw them do just enough to avoid relegation. They needed a bit of luck yesterday as fatigue finally hit in a home defeat against Brondby but fortune was with them as relegation rivals AGF Aarhus were comfortably undone at home by OB Odense, which relegated AGF rather than Randers. That in itself was a surprise, mind you, given the tremendous start to the season that AGF Aarhus had. Still, Randers’ achievement was superb and my hat goes off to them.
Thirdly, a big congratulations to Lech Poznan for breaking the Ekstraklasa hold that both Legia Warsaw and Wisla Krakow held over other sides for many years. Although I doubt they’ll be able to do it again next season with the almost imminent sale of star striker Robert Lewandowski in the forthcoming summer, it’s been an amazing season for them and I wish them the best for their UEFA Champions League campaign next season.
I’ll also throw in AS Roma, acually, as they’ve done fantastically well by pushing Internazionale to the wire in every competition that they could. Roma were unfortunate to leave one of their finest seasons in recent years empty-handed but I’m sure Ranieri will gear them up for a strong overall campaign next year instead of just the second half of the campaign, which should give Internazionale even more problems long-term.
Lastly, a big congratulations to Internazionale and Bayern Munich who lock horns in the UEFA Champions League final on saturday. Both sides have already won the double in their respective countries and the winner on saturday will complete a historic treble so it’s a remarkable achievement for either side in my opinion as I didn’t think either squad was strong enough to complete such a feat and I still don’t think that they are, for the record, but the influence of two fantastic managers have made all the difference. Incidentally, a bit of trivia for you all, if my sources are correct – whoever wins on saturday will be the first manager to win the UEFA Champions League with two difference clubs.
This particular comment isn’t about congratulating but more taking the piss because I immensely dislike sides that buy stardom, or at least attempt to. I’m talking about Real Madrid and Manchester City, of course. Every side spends money but massive investment like that to achieve a big goal in a short space of time is lunacy and nothing could please me more than to see them both fail in their quests as a result. It probably won’t last but I’ll at least laugh for the time being at those two sides for their ridiculous attempts at buying the world. Incidentally, if Real Madrid do sack Pellegrini, which would certainly marry up with their usual approach to failure, then it’ll prove how stupid they are because this is their best season in years and they’ve got a damn good manager there who will prepare for the future if allowed.
Anyway, today’s featured game is the Veikkausliiga game between KuPS Kuopio and JJK Jyvaskyla. Both sides are enjoying a little spell of momentum at the moment which should make for good viewing today as a result despite neither side being particularly good.
KuPS Kuopio got off to a disappointing start to this season by having a poor and unfortunate Liiga Cup campaign. They carried that form into the start of their Veikkausliiga campaign by losing their opening game of the season 5-0 at home to reigning champions HJK Helsinki. They then followed this game up with a very disappointing draw with relegation favourites FC Lahti, which was yet another home game, and it frankly looked likely to send KuPS on a bad run spiralling downwards to force them into yet another relegation battle. However, I have to credit this KuPS side for the resilience that they’ve displayed as they’ve since won three consecutive games – an emphatic win at a difficult (although fairly untalented) AC Oulu, a determined win at home to a strong and composed Inter Turku, and a narrow but comfortable win at Jippo Joensuu mid-week in the Suomen Cup. Therefore, KuPS Kuopio bring strong momentum into this game as a result and this squad benefits from momentum more than most as it means that their generally ineffective attacks become potent, hence the fact that they’ve scored eight goals in three games. KuPS shouldn’t be battling relegation this season – they should be mid-table – and I think if they make the most of their momentum then they’ll do it. I didn’t think KuPS would win any of their previous two Veikkausliiga games but they did. Now they’re facing a side that they really should beat and the odds are good enough to back it occurring at although I’m not sure why you would unless my luck drastically improves in the near future!
Visitors JJK Jyvaskyla have had a worrying good campaign this season. They had a great Liiga Cup campaign where they had great joy from their resilient defensive displays, taking the chances that came their way and keeping other sides out with ease. They’ve started their Veikkausliiga campaign in similar fashion and bizarrely have already won their first three away games of their Veikkausliiga campaign, which is just unreal. What I would say in regards to that run is that they’ve faced three clubs that they could have beaten away from home given a good display from JJK and that’s basically what has happened. Needless to say that JJK have taken strong momentum from such a run so will make life hard for KuPS today. JJK’s problem is that when they concede goals, they lose their heads and concede at least two goals, which is naturally a very dangerous trait. I anticipate them conceding today against a potent KuPS and thus I anticipate them conceding more than they’re capable of scoring. JJK play a similar style of football to KuPS with a slightly less amount of ability so both sides should be up for this game today.
KuPS have a superb record against JJK Jyvasklya in recent times. KuPS beat them here during the Liiga Cup and beat them both home and away in the Veikkausliiga last season so they do know how to do it. Ironnically, KuPS have never looked as likely to beat JJK as they do today with more ability at their disposal and momentum in their favour so I’ve no choice but to call the home win today for the misfits in the valley of a thousand lakes!
Verdict: KuPS Kuopio to win at 6/5.
Monday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
Tampere United vs Haka Valkeakoski – away win with draw no bet 6/5.
This should be a very interesting game for all the wrong reasons. Tampere United are looking horrific, particularly in defence, as their record of eight goals conceded in four games indicates all too well. Barring a freak win at out-of-form IFK Mariehamn, Tampere had scored just once in three games, which isn’t good enough. Tampere still conceded two goals against an IFK side that have problems scoring goals which lends weight to how bad Tampere have become defensively. Can Tampere score three goals per game to overrule their horrendous defending? Of course not, and I certainly can’t see them doing so today. They’ll have taken momentum from their win last match but their problems are still vast and they could be exposed by Haka today. Why? Well, Haka had a lot of investment powered into the team just before the start of the Veikkausliiga season and their team is basically a bunch of talented but unfamiliar faces. Haka’s season depends entirely on how well these players gel but the fact is that those players are better than Tampere, simply put. Haka are unbeaten so far in the Veikkausliiga so there’s a rough foundation forming. They should have lost at HJK but Lady Luck assisted them with a barrage from HJK somehow yielding just the one goal. Since then, Haka have beaten a very promising Jaro Pietarsaari side and have then won two consecutive away games 1-0, one game against relegation favourites FC Lahti and the other against Kakkonen club EIF in the Suomen Cup. What this proves is that Haka’s side is gelling a lot quicker than I’d anticipated. I don’t think they’re anywhere near the finished article yet but they’re forming some strong momentum and are proving hard to beat. If Haka get that all-important first goal then they’re more than capable of winning this game and what better side to gift them the opportunity to score that goal than an awful Tampere defence? The bookies have priced this quite well but Tampere shouldn’t be favourites purely because of their name, which is seemingly what they are as I can’t fathom any other reason that they’d be favourites for this game. However, this should be an interesting game because either side can turn up or not turn up and we can see a very one-sided scoreline if that does occur, hence the risk involved with this game. Nonetheless, I’ve more faith in Haka than I have in Tampere’s one-off displays so this bet today should be worthwhile.
Verdict: Haka Valkeakoski to win with draw no bet at 6/5.
UMF Grindavik vs Keflavik – away win at evens.
I was hoping for longer odds on Keflavik for this game but we’ll make do with evens. Keflavik failed to win any Urvalsdeild games on the road last season – fact – that’s why I wanted longer odds. Unfortunately, the bookies have demonstrated that they’re not as daft as I’d like them to be by giving Keflavik the respect that they certainly deserve. They didn’t have a great year last year but they’re still one of the best sides in Iceland – second-best in my opinion – so they’re always a threat. They’ve already won at a difficult Breidablik Kopavogur in the Urvalsdeild in that composed manner that pushed FH Hafnarfjordur to the wire in the Urvalsdeild title race a couple of years ago so I’m hoping for another successful season for them. Backing them away from home with strong confidence will take time due to their atrocious away displays last year. However, that’s where the other side of this equation arrives – UMF Grindavik. I have these guys down as firm relegation favourites this year and their miserable 4-0 defeat at Stjarnan Gardabaer in the opening day of their campaign emphasised just why that is. Grindavik caused their own problems in that game and were duly punished and now have no momentum to bring into what is yet another difficult game. If Keflavik take the lead against a demoralised Grindavik side then I can’t see the hosts getting back in this game because they’re strong defensively. Grindavik’s only chance is to take the lead here as Keflavik’s one weakness is not scoring enough goals. However, Grindavik don’t look capable of doing that currently and history shows us that they’ve made a habit over the past few years of failing to beat Keflavik at home, something that has lasted three years now. I’ve no reason to suspect that Grindavik will change that run now but I think Keflavik have enough to make the odds of evens worthwhile tonight and it’s also worth looking at under 2.5 goals and Keflavik to win by a single goal.
Verdict: Keflavik to win at evens.
Accumulator fodder:
Unirea Urziceni, Valur Reykjavik.
Recommended bets:
KuPS Kuopio and Keflavik at 5/1.
As ever, if there any questions/explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the complete picks listing, see below!
English League One Play-Off:
Charlton Athletic vs Swindon Town (7) 2-1
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Tampere United vs Haka Valkeakoski (5) 0-1
KuPS Kuopio vs JJK Jyvaskyla (6) 2-1
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
Valur Reykjavik vs IBV Vestmannaeyjar (8) 2-0
UMF Grindavik vs Keflavik (7) 1-2
Italian Serie B:
Padova vs Ascoli (4) under 2.5 goals
Romanian Liga:
Otelul Galati vs SC Vaslui (5) 0-0
Unirea Urziceni vs Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt (8) under 2.5 goals
Pandurii Targu Jiu vs Poli Timisoara (6) 1-2
Singaporean S-League:
Armed Forces vs Tampines Rovers (6) 2-1
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Girona vs Hercules Alicante (4) under 2.5 goals
Swedish Allsvenskan:
AIK Solna vs Atvidabergs (5) 1-0
Orebro vs Trelleborg (7) 2-0
Swedish Superettan:
Falkenberg vs Orgryte (7)
Enjoy your free betting tips!