TFT Issue 291!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
JJK Jyvaskyla vs KuPS Kuopio – over 3 goals at evens.
Today’s featured game is the Liiga Cup game between JJK and KuPS. These two sides don’t like one another so don’t be surprised to see red cards here, irrespective of it being the first competitive game of the season for both sides.
I’ve got to favour JJK here, first and foremost. They look a better side than KuPS and frequently demonstrated that last season. They’ve strengthened since last season, signing experienced Veikkausliiga hitman Innanen from struggling MyPa Anjalankoski and with Wusu ready to rock ‘n’ roll and Hyyrynen decent enough to put the ball in the net from time to time, JJK perhaps finally have enough to legitimately challenge Inter Turku for the right to second place.
JJK’s strength is in their midfield. They’ve got one of the strongest midfields in Finland with Gruborovics, Virtanen, Manninen, Korte, Markkula etc. etc. – there’s so much depth and creativity that most sides simply cannot deal with JJK. Defensively, this side is…vulnerable, to say the least. They don’t care much for defending, which is wise as they’re not very good at it. To make matters worse for this game, Reintam and Latikka are both out, who are both regulars in this JJK defence. Bluntly, JJK keeping a clean sheet here would probably result in a meteor striking earth. However, in terms of attacking and scoring goals, few sides in Finland do it better than JJK so yeah, I fancy JJK here.
KuPS love to make this an entertaining game and let’s face it – the KuPS side of 2010 could probably have done so. They’ve lost their way a bit since then, though, with star striker still rumoured with a move abroad along with a few others. They’ve got plenty of attacking threats though, KuPS, which helps them as they’re also pretty crap at defending. I don’t know what it is about the sides that hail from the valley of a thousand lakes but they are so cavalier when it comes to defending that it’s quite unbelievable!
For today’s game, KuPS miss squad rotation defender Nissinen and new defender Tabe, the giant that they signed from RoPS Rovaniemi. KuPS will find it very hard to keep a clean sheet in this game. In fact, again, I’d expect a meteor to strike earth if KuPS keep a clean sheet here. However, I have to point out that KuPS really aren’t mugs up front with their Africans causing opponents a lot of problems – Udah, Williams, and especially Nwakaeme, namely. Ilo and Venelainen are threats too so I can’t write KuPS off for this one either.
Look, JJK should win this game, on paper. However, it’s the first game of the season, it’s at a neutral venue (indoor arena too!), they’ve got a lot of their defenders out, and it’s a derby. With that in mind, the odds on JJK winning this one are way too short. However, the overs look absolutely divine here because these two sides are attacking sides by nature and both are very capable in front of goal. Additionally, indoor games in Finland tend to produce a lot more goals and with neither side claiming a home advantage, over 3 goals at evens really, really appeals to me today.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at evens.
Additional game
HJK Helsinki vs MyPa Anjalankoski – over 3 goals at 9/10.
HJK winning this one today is a banker, right? Think again.
Yes, they’re the best side in Finland by some distance. Yes, they should win this game. However, looking at the squads for today’s game, I’m not convinced that HJK are worth anything shorter than 4/5 here. I really rate them in their indoor arena but let’s look at the facts.
Pre-season, HJK lost Rafinha, Ring, Pukki, Ojala, and Bah. They’re all big blows. However, as I pointed out with my previous preview, they do have enough to cover all of the above, barring Pukki. Bear in mind that those are five starters for HJK last season! Now we have to bear in mind that HJK are missing big Sadik, superb right-winger Sorsa, regular midfielder Mannstrom, Sadik’s strike partner Pelvas (again, bear in mind that they sold Pukki and Parikka pre-season), and regular defender Sumusalo. Oh dear. I should also point out at this point that HJK sold Fowler to VPS Vaasa pre-season too, although I really don’t rate him as particularly important for HJK, hence me not including him on the above list.
Suffice to say that HJK are not going to be at 100% here. Should there be value in laying them or taking MyPa with an Asian Handicap? Well, no, not really. HJK’s depth really is superb with the likes of Zeneli and Perovuo still available in midfield, who are both capable of running this game for HJK. They’ve no regular strikers available for this game but there are great hopes pinned to hot prospect Pohjanpalo, the striker who dominated with Klubi 04 last season in the Ykkonen. This is a good opportunity for him to prove himself and he has enough support to make HJK a threat in front of goal. If Rihilahti and Litmanen can drag themselves out of the physio room then HJK have a reliable holding midfielder and a world-class attacker in their ranks so yeah, let’s not write HJK from winning it just because they’re short.
So what do we make of MyPa? Well, they’re even worse than last year. How they stayed up can only be attributed to the Finnish FA for reducing the number of relegation places because they were awful. Happily, they’ve become even worse this season with the news that their midfield star and club legend Antti Okkonen has all but sealed a move to HJK Helsinki, although I’ve no idea if he’ll feature today. Additionally, their only good striker Innanen (despite a pretty bad season last year) has joined JJK Jyvaskyla. Oh dear. How is this side going to avoid relegation this season? Seriously? They can only hope that cash-strapped Haka Valkeakoski lose their excellent man-motivating boss or they’re in a bad situation. The only thing I can credit MyPa with is having spirit in games against the bigger sides and they do tend to give HJK a good game, inexplicably.
MyPa is basically Saxman vs whoever they’re facing and although he has promise, I just don’t see anything in this MyPa squad to interest me. Yeah, Anttilainen etc. may be back but we’re still looking at Ykkonen-level players. O’Neill signed a new contract this week – I can’t tell you how much that made me laugh! He’s the worst of all their strikers by some distance – I guess his random and fortuitous hat-trick last season has earned him that because his performances can’t have! Votinov did well last season but again, we’re looking at weak players doing well in a weak team because nobody else can/will.
If HJK had a full squad here, I’d be all over HJK -1 or -2 on the Asian Handicap. However, they don’t, and rumour has it that they’ll only have twelve players in their match squad so be very careful here. MyPa are not good enough to beat HJK and they must count themselves lucky to even draw this game although if they’re smart then they potentially could capitalise on HJK’s tired legs. Either way, for me, the only way to approach this game is by backing goals. There are always, always goals for the indoor games in Finland and this one should be no exception. HJK are good enough to score a couple here and MyPa are bad enough to concede at least two here too. MyPa will most likely score against a promising but unfamiliar HJK defence despite boasting shit strikers because MyPa somehow always manage to do that. The only advice I can give you here is to expect the unexpected as logic rarely features during the Liiga Cup games in Finland. However, we almost always see goals in these games for reasons mentioned above and I think we’ll see goals here too. For me, taking over 3 goals at 9/10 is worth a bet here.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 9/10.
Team news
Australian A-League:
Newcastle Jets – Culina and Coelho are absent. Jeffers and Gallaway are doubts. Wheelhouse and Elrich return.
Wellington Phoenix – Pantelis is absent. Pavlovic is a doubt.
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Racing Genk – Limbombe, Vanden Borre, Joneleit, and Camus are absent. Barda returns.
Sint-Truiden – Okotie, Reza, van Crombrugge, Bertjens, Crist, Volders, and Andrade are absent.
Finnish Liiga Cup:
JJK Jyvaskyla – Reintam and Latikka are absent. Innanen may debutise. Players on trial – Laaskonen and Granlund.
KuPS Kuopio – Nissinen, Tabe, and Hynynen are absent. Players on trial – Sylla, Andreasen, and Koivuranta.
HJK Helsinki – Sadik, Sorsa, Pelvas, Sumusalo, and Mannstrom are absent. Litmanen and Rihilahti are eternal doubts.
MyPa Anjalankoski – Selin and Gela may debutise.
Dutch Eredivisie:
ADO Den Haag – Ammi, Leeuwin, and Radoslavjevic are absent.
Roda JC Kerkrade – Hupperts is absent.
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Academica de Coimbra – Orlando and Eder are absent. Sow is a doubt. Abdoulaye returns. Simao debutises.
Uniao de Leiria – Shaffer is absent. Moraes returns.