Lawrence Smith and VPS were unable to break through a tight Tampere United defense in Sunday Veikkausliiga action at Hietalahti Stadium in Vaasa. Click to continue reading...

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.

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The biggest story of the Sixth Round was Tampere United's decision to play their home tie against Jaro at Tammela Stadium, a ground considered by many to be Finland's best. The significance of this is not obvious to those who have not been closely following Tampere football in recent years, so I will recap briefly.

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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.

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Full rounds are for losers, so instead, Veikkausliiga continues with Wednesday's three games, all of which kick off at 6:30 PM.

Tampere United (11th) FC Inter (7th)

Inter are a good team on their day, but they can also be a bad team, like last Sunday at HJK. To aggravate the problem, Patrick Bantamoi is suspended for this game because he has apparently been watching too much hockey.

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TPS won MYPA 3-1 and Lahti took a 2-1 win over Tampere United. The latter meant that my prediction accuracy fell from 100% to 50% compared to Wednesday's round of games, and I'm too disillusioned to round the games up in any more depth now. I will round them up later, however, once the whole round is over.

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Here we go again. We have two games that start at weird times. It could be a good thing, as it is very hot in Finland this weekend and people are outdoors anyway, even if it is eight o'clock in the evening. Maybe a few will find their way to a football match?

FC Lahti (1oth) Tampere United (11th), 7:30 PM

Lahti are having a difficult time in Veikkausliiga, having lost four of their last five games.

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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.

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FC Inter - VPS

I am just about to hop on the VPS bandwagon. They scored two goals against RoPS on Sunday, a rare treat for their fans, and rumours are circulating that the central market place in Vaasa has already been booked for VPS' title celebrations in October.

Still, Inter are too strong for the Ostrobothnian side.

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Once again, NFN decided to give the Ilves match a miss, and once again, it turned out to be an absolute stormer. Chris James is back in Tampere, and played very well for Ilves (who have a co-operation deal with Tampere United). Lets see if he can recreate this form in the Confederations Cup for New Zealand.

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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.

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Tune in at 6 PM (GMT +2) for a last-minute preview and a minute-by-minute live blog of Saturday's Veikkausliiga top 2 clash between FC Inter Turku and Haka.

FORM

Neither of these two teams were expected to be anything more than outside candidates with regards to the title race, but top 2 they are six rounds into the campaign.

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JJK have had an encouraging start to their first ever campaign in the Finnish top flight. They have already managed to limit TPS, Haka and HJK to draws, and nothing suggests that they could not cause another upset against Honka, especially as Honka have had a poor start to this year's Veikkausliiga.

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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.

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Tampere United v FC Honka, Sunday 6:30pm

Tampere United have all the finesse, skill, confidence and panache of a bag of used cat litter right now. Their 1-0 loss to Haka was not an awful performance, but their goalkeeper messes up big time and they lost. he's a young lad and should be replaced, but now Mikko kaven has a knee injury.

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NFN caught up with Wayne Brown a week ago, but lazily failed to write up the interview till now. He'd just scored one and set up Christuan Andreasson for the other in Tepsi's 2-0 win over Tampere United, and was in a buoyant mood. He was noticeably more confident with journalists than most Finns his age, unsurprisingly enough for a player from an EPL club, just as he has seemed very comfortable in all the games he's played so far.

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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.

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Thursday's Veikkausliiga round should not be lacking in emotion on the pitch, as the derby day will dawn in Turku, Pirkanmaa and Helsinki.

Thursday 14 th, 6:30 PM

HJK put in a dismal performance which earned them a 1-0 loss at MyPa. Nevertheless, they have produced good results in the early stages of the campaign and currently top the table together with Inter.

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After TamU's last game, Ari Hjelm said that he didn't know where Chris James was, hadn't seen him since February, and was unlikely to play him in a game any time soon. If Hjelm is an NFN reader, he will be pleased to find out that James is injured and has been in Belgium getting treatment, as he felt he needed something more than that offered by the TamU medical staff.

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Here's another Confederations Cup update (Cupdate?):
New Zealand has released its squad for the Confederations Cup and there are a few familiar faces. Three players are currently playing in MLS: Andrew Boyens with New York, Simon Elliott with the San Jose Earthquakes and Jarrod Smith with the Seattle Sounders. Click to continue reading...

Ari Hjelm has been with Tampere United throughout their ten-year history, first as an assistant to Harri Kampman and then from 2001 as head coach. He has won three championships, and it is a common refrain in Tampere that he is primarily responsible for the club's success, and that he is the best coach in the country.

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Ari Hjelm has been with Tampere United throughout their ten-year history, first as an assistant to Harri Kampman and then from 2001 as head coach. He has won three championships, and it is a common refrain in Tampere that he is primarily responsible for the club's success, and that he is the best coach in the country.

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Tampere United v VPS, Saturday 6:30pm

The first TamU home game after CEO Sami Salonen and Sporting Director Jarkko Wiss left the club promises to be an eventful affair. Fans are unhappy at the way both men have been treated, as Wiss was not just a Sporting Director but TamU's most successful captain of all time.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

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As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

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As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

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Tampere city council's finest sport facilities maintenance minds were hard at work today, trying to decide how to ensure Tampere's most successful club could fulfil it's fixtures that Bruce Springsteen's concert at Ratina Stadium on 2 June can go ahead without fans risking the horror of muddy shoes.

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Tampere city council's finest sport facilities maintenance minds were hard at work today, trying to decide how to ensure Tampere's most successful club could fulfil it's fixtures that Bruce Springsteen's concert at Ratina Stadium on 2 June can go ahead without fans risking the horror of muddy shoes.

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Tampere city council's finest sport facilities maintenance minds were hard at work today, trying to decide how to ensure Tampere's most successful club could fulfil it's fixtures that Bruce Springsteen's concert at Ratina Stadium on 2 June can go ahead without fans risking the horror of muddy shoes.

Click to continue reading...

There are just three days left till the start of the Veikkausliiga season, and it's about time we previewed the league. The tardiest of the Nordic summer seasons, Finland's is the most susceptible to inclement weather, and already there is a postponement: Jaro-RoPSÂ rather than this weekend. It is still cold up north.

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There are just three days left till the start of the Veikkausliiga season, and it's about time we previewed the league. The tardiest of the Nordic summer seasons, Finland's is the most susceptible to inclement weather, and already there is a postponement: Jaro-RoPSÂ rather than this weekend. It is still cold up north.

Click to continue reading...

There are just three days left till the start of the Veikkausliiga season, and it's about time we previewed the league. The tardiest of the Nordic summer seasons, Finland's is the most susceptible to inclement weather, and already there is a postponement: Jaro-RoPSÂ rather than this weekend. It is still cold up north.

Click to continue reading...