Nordic Football News

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. They are two of the best grounds in Veikkausliiga, and they will host home games for four different Finnish clubs this season: Hjallis, Håkans: NFN salutes you.

Anyway, the Veikkausliiga season starts soon and we should get previewing….

HJK v Kups, 4pm Saturday

HJK’s recovery from their poor performance against Tampere United in the league cup final should be easy, as they are up against one of the worst teams in the league. Antti Muurinen was asked after the game whether he could keep five strikers happy, or even find a winning formula from among his embarrassment of goal-getting riches, and didn’t really answer. Whoever he picks will find it quite easy against the team from Savo, but their likely hammering of KuPS will not provide much of an indication as to how HJK will do this season.

Last year HJK had problems with KuPS. A 0-0 draw in Helsinki and a 3-2 defeat in Kuopio put serious dents in HJK’s title push, and Muurinen is very keen to ensure that they take the game seriously.

“Last season showed that although KuPS are expected to be at the bottom of the table, you can never be sure of anything,” said the moustachioed maestro. “We need to take that mentality into Saturday’s game. Nothing comes for free.”

HJK welcome back Paulus Roiha and Ville Taulo after injury, while Cheyne Fowler is a doubt with an ankle injury. HJK are displaying all the class and dignity they usually do with regard to their best young player, Jukka Raitala, whose contract runs out at the end of the season. The club will not let him play until he signs an extension, he is not all that happy about that, and has not signed. So club and player are locked in a standoff, and Raitala will not play until he signs or HJK back down.

Home win

TPS v Haka, 4pm Saturday

TPS have a full squad to pick from, with the exception of long term injury Mika Ääritalo. The Veritas stadium pitch is in good condition, and as of Friday 4,000 tickets had been sold, with the club expecting a crowd of around 5,000: a very good attendance for Veikkausliiga, especially as the temperature is forecast to be just above freezing point.

Markus Jöenmäki, Kalle Parviainen and Saku Pesonen are out injured for Haka, with Kalle Multanen on military service and therefore unable to play. Last year Haka lost both games against TPS, and on pre-season form they will do so again, although Haka coach Olli Huttunen is promising some surprises.

“Sure, our team has changed a lot,” said the former Kajaanin Haka man. “Reinforcements have arrived, and they are young but experienced. When the season starts, a lot of people will be surprised at how strong we are.”

Home win

MyPa v JJK, 6.30pm Sunday

Match postponed

JJK are a bit of an unknown quantity at this stage. Their transfer dealings saw two of their best players leave, to be replaced in part by unknown quantities: Kim Hyun-Kwan, Lee Ho Jin and Nam Ik Kyung arrived from South Korea, the latter two with a strong pedigree in the K-league and Lee Ho Jin after playing for Spanish club Racing Santander. They could be very good, and MyPa have been less than convincing in pre-season, but MyPa’s experience will most likely show through and the home team will win. Quite possibly with a goal or two from my favourite Veikkausliiga striker, Saku Puhakainen.

Home win

Honka v Lahti, 6.30pm Sunday

The big news here is that Jari Litmanen might be on the bench for Lahti.

“I think he will be involved, maybe not from the start but it’s looking like he will be in the matchday squad,” Lahti coach Ilkka Mäkelä told NFN. “He’s signed a one year contract, he trained with the players on Wednesday and Thursday, and he should be able to slot straight into the team when he’s ready. He trained with us in January and February, after all.”

Lahti’s pre-season has been decimated by injuries, and although they welcomed back 4 players from injury in Monday’s friendly win against KooTeePee, they are still without Brazilian striker Rafael. As for Honka, they played the first half of Wednesday’s friendly against Inter with a very strong team, and changed every outfield player for the second half. The opening eleven, which is likely to be the starting line-up against Lahti, was:

Janne Henriksson; Tuomo Turunen, Rami Hakanpää, Ville Koskimaa, Sampo Koskinen; Demba Savage, Rasmus Schüller, Jussi Vasara, Nicholas Otaru; Hermanni Vuorinen, Aleksandr Kokko.

The game will be played at Finnair Stadium, because Honka’s Tapiola pitch is being relaid.

“Everybody wants to play at home, but the pitch is very good at Finnair stadium and maybe it’s better for us to play on a good surface in Helsinki rather than bad grass in Tapiola,” Honka coach Mika Lehkosuo said on Friday. “You need that for our style of play. We have seven away games and three ‘home’ games before the midsummer break, after which we will be back in Espoo, and the slight problem might be that the pitches in those away games are not so good. But after the break we will be back at our home ground, and that’s great for us, and especially our fans in Espoo.”

Home win

IFK Mariehamnv Inter Turku, 7pm Monday (televised live on Urheilukanava and betfair)

“We know how they play, and they know how we play, there are no big secrets,” IFK’s Assistant coach Stephen Ward told NFN on Friday. “If we let them play then we’ll be in trouble, so we have to make sure we assert ourselves and don’t let them get too comfortable.”

IFK will not be playing tippy-tappy football against last season’s champions. They have one long term injury, Peter Blomberg, but apart from that have a full side to pick from.

(This preview will be edited with more news over the weekend)

Draw