TFT Issue 335!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
KuPS Kuopio vs Jaro Pietarsaari – home win at evens.
Today’s featured game is the Liiga Cup encounter between KuPS Kuopio and Jaro Pietarsaari.
Three points is a must for KuPS if they intend on progressing in this competition. Let’s face it – they’re a better side than Jaro, through and through. True enough, KuPS do disappoint in defence and they also like to shy away when they’re the favourites but I still fancy them to do the damage here.
Why? Well, this Jaro side is pretty overrated, based on the odds. Jaro were really good last season, predominantly because they’ve got an excellent manager in Eremenko Snr. He knows how to motivate his players and it worked a treat last year. He was also astute enough to bring big Georgian hitman Siribadze into the Veikkausliiga, which he promptly set alight. The big Georgian had Zeze and Niang for company, which made Jaro one of the most feared attacking sides in Finland at that point, despite their average overall quality. Since then, Siribadze has gone to Inter Turku, Zeze was fired, and Niang was rumoured to be leaving. This Jaro side is nowhere near as good as it used to be and although Liiga Cup statistics thus far don’t reflect that, I expect them to struggle against a good KuPS side today.
KuPS have some very good attackers themselves, much moreso than Jaro, in my view. There aren’t many sides that Ilo and Venalainen wouldn’t get into in the Veikkausliiga! It was hard to see KuPS having another good season last year following their success of the previous year and they did struggle, really. Part of it was down to the sale of Nigerian hitman Dudu but there was something else; a real lack of motivation damaged them, to be honest. Nwakaeme carried them through those games although God only knows if he’s still actually with KuPS or if he’s finally moved on as he’s been supposedly moving on for about six months now. KuPS still possess a very good attacking side with plenty of pace, height, and movement. Again, they’re fragile defensively but they’re more than capable of outscoring most sides in Finland and Jaro are no exception to that rule, in my eyes.
It might take a while to get going but I see value in taking KuPS to win this game against a Jaro side that they’re frankly some distance ahead of with the proviso that KuPS are motivated following their recent 0-1 win.
Verdict: KuPS Kuopio to win at evens.
Team news
UEFA Champions League:
SSC Napoli – Grava, Donadel, and Britos are absent.
CSKA Moscow – Gonzalez is absent.
Real Madrid – Coentrao and di Maria are absent.
Finnish Liiga Cup:
Haka Valkeakoski – Pirinen and Pesonen are absent. Kuqi, Luoto, and Matrone are doubts. Kauppinen is on international duty.
TPS Turku – Lehtonen and Makinen are absent. Okaru is a doubt.
FC Lahti – Grossohmichen is absent.
MyPa Anjalankoski – No absentees.
KuPS Kuopio – Hynynen, Paananen, Rasanen, and Hoivala are absent. Nissinen and Tabe return. Obiefule debutises. Lots of pacey African players on trial.
Jaro Pietarsaari – Sara, Brunell, and Peth are absent.
Greek Super League:
Levadiakos – Alexiou is absent.
PAS Giannina – Tambasis, Oikonomou, Skoufalis, Ionannou, Tzanis, and Mixahl are absent.
Doxa Dramas – Aravidis, Brilakis, Lima, Soiledis, and Geladaris are absent. Vertzos is a doubt.
Atromitos – Giannoulis is absent.
Serbian Super Liga:
Radnicki 1923 – Milosevic and Lepovic are absent.
Novi Pazar – Markovic is absent.
Partizan Belgrade – Lazevski is absent.
Red Star Belgrade – Perovic and Tosic are absent. Lazovic is a doubt.
Vojvodina Novi Sad – Supic and Trajkovic are doubts.