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. TPS struggled against Haka, but showed glimpses of quality at HJK last Thursday and should prove too strong for the Jyväskylä side. Fulham-loanee Wayne Brown has been red hot, scoring one and assisting another goal. Whichever way you slice it, TPS have a much better team and should take a routine win tonight.
The evening will see four players facing their former club. TPS’ Wusu Babatunde is a household name in Jyväskylä, having scored 35 goals in 45 games for JJK in the past two seasons. Mikko Manninen is another former JJK player. Putting on a JJK shirt and returning to their former home ground will be Jukka-Pekka Tuomanen, who spent a year in Jaro before switching to JJK, and Markus Paija, an experienced defender.
TPS are still missing Mika Ääritalo, JJK have a full squad to choose from.
Mon, Apr 27, 2009
Finland, Veikkausliiga