Veikkausliiga heads north today, with long journeys deep into the countryside for HJK and Tampere United. RoPS, KuPS and VPS all have nice grounds but terrible pitches, and the difficulty of getting results there has been evident in recent seasons, with VPS acting as a bit of a bogey side for TamU and KuPS getting a memorable 3-2 win against HJK late last season to help them to a play-off spot.

Click to continue reading...

The preview of the sxth round should take many forms, the first one being a homage to Pasi Rautiainen. This Monday's match between Honka and TPS in Tapiola turned into something of a media event, with most of the Finnish under-21 squad presented with roses for their achievement in failing to win a single game or point, and scoring a solitary penalty during their three matches in Sweden.

Click to continue reading...

Watching Tampere United struggle to a single goal victory over JJK at Ratina yesterday, it occurred to me just how astonishing it is that anyone watches Finnish football. The first half was enjoyably predictable, as TamU attacked and JJk attempted to string a few passes together. JJK's South Korean striker Nam was brought off injured, and someone curled a shot against the bar for the Jyväskyläns (it could very possibly have been Koskela), and Rafinha got the winner when Sinisalo's headed past his own keeper, but overall it was a pretty run of the mill Veikkausliiga match.

Click to continue reading...

Inter are not the luckiest team in Veikkausliiga, it has to be said. After losing Patrick Bantamoi to a red card in Sunday's 2-0 defeat to HJK at Pallokenttä (HJK's usual Töölö home having it's new grass rested for the Euro 2009 championships in late August), their second goalkeeper David Moncalves was sent off in the 57th minute at Ratina today after bringing down Tampere United's Aleksei Kangaskolkka and preventing a goalscoring opportunity.

Click to continue reading...

We apologise for being unable to write a preview of last night's games, but here's an extended round-up to ease the pain.

MYPA - VPS 0-2

I can't help gloryhunting. VPS took a third consecutive win and I just have to support them. If I didn't, I would be scared by them.

Click to continue reading...

TPS - IFK Mariehamn

TPS basically have the edge in this game, but it all depends on how they play. If they build on last week's win over VPS and produce another confident display, they should be able to win the game, but if they are inefficient and start pushing it, the game will turn out much more difficult, even more so as IFK Mariehamn really know how to play against "better" teams.

Click to continue reading...

OK, maybe I am taking a step too far in comparing this 19-year old to mr. Litmanen. Still, what a performance! Riski, or RR10, as his recently innovated nickname goes, beautifully set up TPS's 2-0 winning goal against VPS and also put the ball past Henri Sillanpää himself. He was composed with the ball, passing precisely and setting up a number of chances for his mates.

Click to continue reading...

Inter took their third consecutive derby win in Veikkausliiga, beating TPS 2-0. The big difference to last year was that both teams were bad this time around. Inter had most of the ball possession, but that was pretty much useless, as they could only create one chance. It was enough though, as Timo Furuholm found the net to score his team's second in the 75th minute.

Click to continue reading...

Haka v HJK

This is Finland's classico, the game between the historical heavyweights with more titles between them than they know what to do with. It's also Haka's first home game, Sedu Koskinen's first chance to bring the magic of a summer of music festivals and family-friendly entertainment to Tehtaan Kenttä.

Click to continue reading...

The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

Click to continue reading...

The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

Click to continue reading...

EGAN'S PREDICTION JUHA'S PREDICTION 1. FC Honka 1. HJK 2. HJK 2. FC Honka 3. FC Inter 3. Tampere United 4. Tampere United 4. TPS 5. TPS 5. FC Inter 6. FC Lahti 6. FC Lahti 7. FC Haka 7. FC Haka 8. VPS 8. MyPa 9. IFK Mariehamn 9. VPS 10. MyPa 10. FF Jaro 11. FF Jaro 11. IFK Mariehamn 12. KuPS 12. JJK 13. Click to continue reading...

EGAN'S PREDICTION JUHA'S PREDICTION 1. FC Honka 1. HJK 2. HJK 2. FC Honka 3. FC Inter 3. Tampere United 4. Tampere United 4. TPS 5. TPS 5. FC Inter 6. FC Lahti 6. FC Lahti 7. FC Haka 7. FC Haka 8. VPS 8. MyPa 9. IFK Mariehamn 9. VPS 10. MyPa 10. FF Jaro 11. FF Jaro 11. IFK Mariehamn 12. KuPS 12. JJK 13. Click to continue reading...

EGAN'S PREDICTION JUHA'S PREDICTION 1. FC Honka 1. HJK 2. HJK 2. FC Honka 3. FC Inter 3. Tampere United 4. Tampere United 4. TPS 5. TPS 5. FC Inter 6. FC Lahti 6. FC Lahti 7. FC Haka 7. FC Haka 8. VPS 8. MyPa 9. IFK Mariehamn 9. VPS 10. MyPa 10. FF Jaro 11. FF Jaro 11. IFK Mariehamn 12. KuPS 12. JJK 13. Click to continue reading...

In: Dymytro Voloshyn, Marcus Olofsson, Kenneth Gustavsson, Tamás Gruborowics, Gustav Långbacka, Kenneth Vickström, Sasha Anttilainen, Arsim Gashi, Jimmy Sundman, Ante Simunac

Out: Daniel Norrmén, Travis Binnion, Jani Lyyski, Andreas Björk, Andreas Friman, Peter Sjölund, André Hansell, Petter Isaksson, David Carlsson, Anders Överström, Tommy Wirtanen, Arash Bayat, August Bergman, Akombo Ukeyima, Moses Reid

Coach: Pekka Lyyski

Claimed playing budget: €450,000

Egan says:A big re-building job has been undertaken at the Wiklof Holding Arena, with retirements decimating IFK's squad.

Click to continue reading...

In: Dymytro Voloshyn, Marcus Olofsson, Kenneth Gustavsson, Tamás Gruborowics, Gustav Långbacka, Kenneth Vickström, Sasha Anttilainen, Arsim Gashi, Jimmy Sundman, Ante Simunac

Out: Daniel Norrmén, Travis Binnion, Jani Lyyski, Andreas Björk, Andreas Friman, Peter Sjölund, André Hansell, Petter Isaksson, David Carlsson, Anders Överström, Tommy Wirtanen, Arash Bayat, August Bergman, Akombo Ukeyima, Moses Reid

Coach: Pekka Lyyski

Claimed playing budget: €450,000

Egan says:A big re-building job has been undertaken at the Wiklof Holding Arena, with retirements decimating IFK's squad.

Click to continue reading...

In: Dymytro Voloshyn, Marcus Olofsson, Kenneth Gustavsson, Tamás Gruborowics, Gustav Långbacka, Kenneth Vickström, Sasha Anttilainen, Arsim Gashi, Jimmy Sundman, Ante Simunac

Out: Daniel Norrmén, Travis Binnion, Jani Lyyski, Andreas Björk, Andreas Friman, Peter Sjölund, André Hansell, Petter Isaksson, David Carlsson, Anders Överström, Tommy Wirtanen, Arash Bayat, August Bergman, Akombo Ukeyima, Moses Reid

Coach: Pekka Lyyski

Claimed playing budget: €450,000

Egan says:A big re-building job has been undertaken at the Wiklof Holding Arena, with retirements decimating IFK's squad.

Click to continue reading...

Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen's fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [. Click to continue reading...

Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen's fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [. Click to continue reading...

Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen's fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [. Click to continue reading...

Jussi Kahola just missed out on getting elected in Tampere, but there were other football candidates in Finland. One successful football orientated politician was Kai Kuokkanen, who was elected on the Green Party list in Lahti. If you want to find out more in Finnish, or get in touch with him, you can do so [. Click to continue reading...

The biggest disappointment this year has been HJK Helsinki. They started with high hopes, big signings, and a fluent attacking style, but things have fallen apart for them since the 3-2 win over Inter that seemed to renew their title hopes back in August. Their strategy - big money signings combined with the cream of [. Click to continue reading...

TamU beat Honka 4-3 in an entertaining game that saw TamU stir up the title race once again. A few weeks ago they got a home win against Inter and now the other title candidate was treated to a defeat at their hands. FC Lahti - IFK Mariehamn A win would guarantee IFK Mariehamn a place in [...] Click to continue reading...

FC Inter - Honka 0-0 HJK - TPS 1-0 FC Lahti - Haka 1-0 KuPS - MyPa 1-4 VPS - Jaro 2-1 TamU - IFK Mariehamn 1-0 Highlights here, just click the "Veikkausliiga" link below the video. Inter and Honka couldn't spell out a difference between themselves in the long-awaited game between the two top teams in Turku. Click to continue reading...

There will be new Veikkausliiga champions this year. HJK lost 3-2 at home to Jaro last night, and today's papers are enjoyably miserable for anyone who didn't want HJK to win it. Jussi Aalto got two of the goals, and HJK missed a lot of chances, but in the end it was Aalto's clinical finishing [...] Click to continue reading...

Yle started their Veikkausliiga broadcasts today as FF Jaro played FC Lahti. The system in Finland is quite interesting: Urheilukanava broadcast the games from April to September, and Yle are only interested when the title is about to be won. The move from Urheilukanava to Yle may raise the number of people watching, as Urheilukanava is [. Click to continue reading...

FC Lahti and TamU kicked off the 18th round on Friday and the matched ended in a 2-2 draw. Dramatically, TamU were up by one until the 90th minute. Then Jari Litmanen scored in stoppage time and two minutes later Jonne Kemppinen gave the hosts the lead. Nobody expected TamU to get a result anymore, [. Click to continue reading...

KuPS - HJK 3-2 VPS - FC KooTeePee 1-1 MyPa - RoPS 1-0 FC Honka - TPS 2-2 TamU - FC Haka 1-1 FC Inter - FC Lahti 1-0 IFK Mariehamn - FF Jaro CANCELLED Inter have signed a great deal with the football gods. They won FC Lahti in front of over 8000 people willing to see Jari Litmanen in action, [...] Click to continue reading...

Ilkka Mäkelä had hoped for 5-6,000, but in the end the attendance for Jari Litmanen's return was 4,163. Seasoned football-watchers were unsurprised about that, given the history of football in Lahti. One told me that "hardly anybody in Lahti supports FC Lahti. The real clubs there are Kuusysi and Reipas. Click to continue reading...

FC Lahti have announced that the legendary #10, Jari Litmanen, is a new addition to their squad. He has been training with the team for a few weeks now and it was quite natural that he decided to bring this season to its conclusion playing for Lahti. "He has been training very well with us, and [...] Click to continue reading...

FF Jaro - Tampere United 1-4 RoPS - FC Inter 0-0 HJK - IFK Mariehamn 4-0 MyPa - FC Honka 0-2 FC Haka - VPS 1-0 FC Lahti - FC KooTeePee 1-0 TPS - KuPS 3-3 Click on the game for highlights. TPS-KuPS should appear later. Inter still did not lose, but their form is not so amazing anymore. They have drawn six [. Click to continue reading...

Once again, the games start on Saturday and the last one will be played on Wednesday - so if my predictions go wrong as far as Wednesday's TPS-KuPS is concerned, I'll blame it on having to write the preview so early. FF Jaro - Tampere United This is Saturday's only game. TamU are probably tired following their [. Click to continue reading...

He didn't look alright yesterday, after being knocked out by Haka goalkeeper Sasha Dovbnya while challenging for a cross. At that point KTP were, shockingly, 1-0 up after Dovbnya had dropped the ball and substitute Vesa Helenius swept the ball home with his first touch of the ball on 43 minutes. Finnish footballers are extraordinarily [. Click to continue reading...

TamU lost yesterday, but the stats show a decent performance. The result sent MyPa to the top of the league, and kept TamU down in  lower mid-table. They will almost certainly have to rely on the cup to get into Europe this year, and they have a tough Quarter Final draw: FC Haka – TP-47 FC Honka [. Click to continue reading...

MyPa v TamU TamU played extraordinarily well against Buducnost, at least until they went 2-0 up. You would expect them to rest a few players today though, before what could be a hectic trip to Montenegro for the second leg, so maybe Hjelm or Hynynen will get a start. MyPa are also playing quite well after [. Click to continue reading...