TFT Issue 103!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
RoPS Rovaniemi vs JJK Jyvaskyla – away win at evens.
Today’s featured game is one of many previewed Veikkausliiga games today. This particular game is in the depths of northern Finland and features newly-promoted RoPS Rovaniemi and Veikkausliiga dark horses JJK Jyvaskyla.
RoPS have arrived back in the Veikkausliiga with a real bang after just a single season in the Ykkonen. They looked decent in the Liiga Cup before the match-fixing scandal which saw all of their talented attacking players leave the club and be replaced by lower-class players from the Ykkonen and Kakkonen. Effectively, all RoPS are nowadays is a shell of what they were. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh of me, though – they do still have a pretty solid defence. They acquired German youngster Gotzl at the back the improvement he’s made upon the Rovaniemi outfit is immense. However, with crazy Cameroonian goalkeeper Nyom between the sticks, there’s always a chance that RoPS can and will concede against anyone. Their attack, though – there’s just no power. I’ve been impressed with the impact that Mexican striker Rivera has had since joining the club and maybe he’ll become a revelation but overall, RoPS are poor in attack, which makes their excellent run at the start of the current campaign nothing short of insane. Ok, Jaro didn’t turn up in Rovaniemi and deservedly lost 1-0 but how the hell did RoPS score three in Aland against IFK Mariehamn? They’re simply not good enough to earn a 3-3 draw so it was no surprise to see poor defending from IFK for two of the RoPS goals with the penalty that RoPS scored being a dubious decision at best a.k.a. it wasn’t a penalty. Nonetheless, they’re a spirited side, RoPS, and that side of them cannot be underestimated – all I’m trying to say here is don’t over-estimate them because of their displays thus far.
Visitors JJK have made a steady if not spectacular start to their Veikkausliiga campaign although ironically, it’s their defensive strength which is more prominent than their attacking strength if you just look at the statistics. However, in reality, that’s not really the case! JJK’s defence is good but they’ve obtained their two clean sheets thus far because of an amazing display by goalkeeper Korhonen against Honka and because MyPa are terrible in attack. JJK have actually attacked very well in both games but have failed to take their chances, which is a tad surprising considering the attacking power that they boast. Then again, maybe they’re just taking time to gel – who knows? All I know is that from the games I’ve seen, they’re creating plenty of chances; it’s down to prodigal son Wusu and new signing Gruborovics to punish opposing sides although Wusu hasn’t featured in JJK’s two games thus far, which probably goes some distance as to explaining their lack of goals. Nonetheless, JJK are a very solid unit and a side to be reckoned with this season, in my view. They’re by far the better team in this game and the odds reflect that fairly well today.
However, I still think there’s value in the away win. Why? Aside from the above, we must taken into consideration travel. Since the Veikkausliiga was re-vamped pre-season by the Finnish Football Association, there are now a lot more games to play and subsequently, we’re sometimes going to see games every few days, just like today. There aren’t many Veikkausliiga games that will cause big problems for sides during such a congested schedule as most Finnish sides are located in central/southern Finland. However, there’s always exceptions and RoPS are one of them, being extremely far north. That makes all their away games extremely long travels and especially their trips to Aland to face IFK Mariehamn, which is an island group off the south-west coast of Finland. If I had to speculate, I think you’d be looking at between 800 and 900km for that journey, let alone the return journey. RoPS played in Rovaniemi, then in Aland, and now in Rovaniemi again all within six days. They don’t have the depth for that! Not many sides would, to be honest. JJK’s travels have been considerably less intense as they’ve travelled only between Jyvaskyla and Espoo and although the trip north is long for them too, the fact remains that RoPS have made the longest journey a Veikkausliiga club can make at the present time and they really should show it today. RoPS are always strong at home, especially so now they’ve installed artificial turf, but I’m going against them with a superior and less tired JJK at evens today.
Verdict: JJK Jyvaskyla to win at evens.
Additional game
KuPS Kuopio vs VPS Vaasa – home win at evens.
KuPS were crushed 4-1 at HJK Helsinki last match but I thought the result was a bit unfair, personally. Don’t get me wrong – HJK definitely deserved to win the game overall, as you’d expect from the best club in Finland playing at home. However, KuPS lost 4-1 because their goalkeeper’s positioning was appalling for two goals and his handling allowed another past him so I’m not going to read too much into it. They lost 0-1 at home to Inter Turku in the game before that and I must confess that I expected more from KuPS in that game, as good as Inter Turku are. KuPS did threaten but Inter Turku are very good at monopolising possession, which is precisely what they did after they’d scored. KuPS are back on their familiar artificial turf today to host an inferior VPS Vaasa side, however, and they should make it count. It has been suggested that KuPS are overrated following their successful campaign last season and there’s perhaps an element of truth in that. However, now that star Nigerian Nwakaeme is back in their ranks, the confidence levels will rise and their potency will increase dramatically, something which had been a bit of a concern for me as they sold Dudu to Honka Espoo pre-season. Now KuPS have towering duo Venelainen and Ilo, not to mention pacey Williams, and of course the legend that is Nwakaeme and all together, they look a threat.
VPS Vaasa have produced a team this year that’s…well, pretty much the same as every year. VPS are VPS, simply. They play boring football in a very organised manner and their sole aim for each game is not to lose. They are not an adventurous side and thus we’re unlikely to see many goals in this one. They drew 0-0 at Haka Valkeakoski in their opening Veikkausliiga game in an encounter that was every bit as droll as the scoreline suggests. They won 2-1 at home a superior TPS Turku last match as the visitors were still trying to integrate their new signings and to be fair to VPS, they took two of the few chances that they had. VPS are a very different side away from Vaasa anyway, but rest assured when I say that they carry little goal threat. Aalto and Kainu scored all their goals last season and both of those players were sold pre-season so yeah – don’t expect much adventure from the visitors here.
As long as KuPS aren’t too down at losing two games against good sides in a row then they realistically should win this one. The artificial turf suits KuPS and hands them a good home advantage, naturally. I don’t expect anything from VPS here other than to “park the bus” but with KuPS attacking prowess, the home win looks good value to me at evens.
Verdict: KuPS Kuopio to win at evens.