Lawrence Smith and VPS return to Veikkausliiga action this weekend when they host league co-leader TPS on Sunday at Hietalahti Stadium in Vaasa. Click to continue reading...

Haka (2nd) TPS (3rd), Monday 7 PM
Live on Urheilukanava and streams

PREVIEW: This week and the next are of definitive nature as far as the title race is concerned. TPS will play both Haka and table-topping HJK this week, and two wins could see them occupy the driving seat.

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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.

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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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It's not April Fools' Day, and I'm not kidding for any other reason either. See for yourself. Tony Björk found the net on the 12th minute and Antonio Inutile doubled the lead 11 minutes later. The two goals were enough to leave RoPS all alone in the relegation spot, and anger the fans. A thread demanding the resignation of CEO Jouko Kiistala was soon opened on Finland's biggest football message board, and the fans might have a point.

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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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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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Petri Jakonen, CEO of TPS for the past 8 years, has got himself a new job at the Finnish FA. His job title would translate as something like "leader of professional football", and his duties boil down to coordinating Finland's national teams as well as national competitions.

Sporting director Marco Casagrande will be Jakonen's successor at TPS, becoming a prominent figure at one of Finland's top clubs.

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I have been to Keuruu many times before, but never previously had the urge to visit one of the fine examples of Nordic wooden architecture common in the area. Thanks to Mr Berlusconi, I'm now curious what they're like and am about to go and have a look. Anything that man dislikes deserves a chance, at least, but it does mean that this round-up/preview is going to e a bit of a rush job.

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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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HJK v IFK Mariehamn, Wednesday 6:30pm

This is, somewhat surprisingly, a top of the table clash. IFK have already beaten last season's champions, drawn with one of the favourites for this season, and had a regulation win over wooden spoon-chasers KuPS. This puts them level on points with HJK, who dropped their two points at home to draw specialists TPS.

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Monday, 6:30pm

Bit late, this one. Former TPS coach Laurikainen returns to Kupittaa, and Jaro look for the win they failed to secure from Inter. Ääritalo is out for Tepsi, while Jaro have a fullish squad including both Portins. The Veikkausliiga preview focuses on Chris Cleaver's knowledge of which members of the Jaro party used to be at TPS, and it seems to be quite a lot (did Hyyrynen really play in Turku?

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VPS Vaasa 2 Honka 5

Highlights

TPS Turku 0 JJK Jyväskylä 0

Highlights

The ice hockey world championships is getting quite a lot of media coverage in Finland at the moment, and ahead of today's Czech Republic-Norway game I asked Lars what he thought of the Norwegian team's chances.

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Veritas Stadion, Turku, 6:30 PM Finnish time

The main focus is on JJK, who make their first Veikkausliiga appearance tonight following two postponements. Unfortunately, the night is unlikely to delight the club or their fans. JJK failed to win in all their games against Veikkausliiga clubs during pre-season, and the first real game could not be much tougher.

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Hietalahti, Vaasa, 7 PM Finnish time
Live on Urheilukanava

Hermanni Vuorinen has been reminiscing about Honka's 2005 promotion season ahead of tonight's trip to Vaasa. Back then Honka won a crucial match at Hietalahti, with big Hermanni scoring two goals, and of course Vuorinen has fond memories of the place.

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HJK 2 TPS 2

Highlights

Pasi Rautiainen's haircut garnered a lot of headlines when he unveiled it at the Veikkausliiga media event on the eve of the season. The formerly wild-haired TPS coach claimed that his new, clean-cut image was the result of a marital diktat after his wife finally snapped at her husband's barber-aversion.

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HJK 2 TPS 2

Highlights

Pasi Rautiainen's haircut garnered a lot of headlines when he unveiled it at the Veikkausliiga media event on the eve of the season. The formerly wild-haired TPS coach claimed that his new, clean-cut image was the result of a marital diktat after his wife finally snapped at her husband's barber-aversion.

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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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IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

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IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

Click to continue reading...

IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

Click to continue reading...

TPS 1 Haka 2

A surprising result at Kupittaa, where TPS ensured that their game at HJK on Thursday will take on a new significance. A defeat there, and it will be hard for coach Rautiainen to avoid a mini-crisis at least. 'New coach, same old TPS' was the headline in Hufvudstadsbladet, while Turun Sanomat went for a more measured 'TPS punished at corners'.

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TPS 1 Haka 2

A surprising result at Kupittaa, where TPS ensured that their game at HJK on Thursday will take on a new significance. A defeat there, and it will be hard for coach Rautiainen to avoid a mini-crisis at least. 'New coach, same old TPS' was the headline in Hufvudstadsbladet, while Turun Sanomat went for a more measured 'TPS punished at corners'.

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TPS 1 Haka 2

A surprising result at Kupittaa, where TPS ensured that their game at HJK on Thursday will take on a new significance. A defeat there, and it will be hard for coach Rautiainen to avoid a mini-crisis at least. 'New coach, same old TPS' was the headline in Hufvudstadsbladet, while Turun Sanomat went for a more measured 'TPS punished at corners'.

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Veikkausliiga announced their hoped-for attendance figures yesterday, and they seem to be grounded in as much reality as the budgets. Clubs are hoping for an increase in their attendances that may be difficult to achieve with current facilities, as well as the cold, hard fact that most clubs will be unsuccessful in most seasons.

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Veikkausliiga announced their hoped-for attendance figures yesterday, and they seem to be grounded in as much reality as the budgets. Clubs are hoping for an increase in their attendances that may be difficult to achieve with current facilities, as well as the cold, hard fact that most clubs will be unsuccessful in most seasons.

Click to continue reading...

Veikkausliiga announced their hoped-for attendance figures yesterday, and they seem to be grounded in as much reality as the budgets. Clubs are hoping for an increase in their attendances that may be difficult to achieve with current facilities, as well as the cold, hard fact that most clubs will be unsuccessful in most seasons.

Click to continue reading...

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.

Click to continue reading...