HJK won the championship last season with just one point difference to KuPS. The same duo is still at the top. The Veikkausliiga season starts on Saturday with a full round.
Hinni Hirvonen,
Pekka Aalto
Last autumn, the Helsinki Football Club and the Kuopio Palloseura served a great culmination for the Veikkausliiga season. A 1-1 draw in the final round was enough for the Club to win the championship by one point. Both cleared the 27-game contract well above the two-point average.
– We played almost perfect season. The goal now is to do things as well as possible. If a guy is better, even if we play the perfect season, then we can’t do anything about it, KuPS pilot Simo Valakari prime.
He believes that the example of the people of Kuopio will also encourage other league clubs to challenge HJK.
– Many people now think that if KuPS is able to challenge the Club, then they too can do it. I think the series will be better than last year.
HJK and KuPS stand out in different seasonal estimates. SJK, Honka, Inter and maybe Ilve will be entered into the medal battle.
Of the biggest favorites, HJK has undergone bigger changes than KuPS. Of the 11 players who watched the most minutes last season, five (Hugo Keto, Daniel O’Shaughnessy, Luis Carlos Murillo, Lucas Lingman, Filip Valencic) has changed the landscape. They especially feel the loss of Captain O’Shaughnessy.
About procurement Joona Toiviolta and From Jukka Raitala much is expected downstairs in the club.
– The competition for seats is really tough. You can’t relax at all in practice if you want to play, Toivio says.
From Northern Ireland Conor Hazardista hoping for a mountain-safe fighter behind a strong defense.
There is also plenty of work to be done to replace Lingman and Valencic’s ball skills. The cornerstones of the attacking game are not yet completely certain.
– Our team is perhaps a little more diverse than last season. We’re favorites every year, so it doesn’t affect what we do. Much more is known about the power ratios of the entire series after five rounds of the league. Hall games don’t tell you everything, HJK Commander Toni Koskela comments.
Of the hall games in the League Cup, HJK bowed to Honga and KuPS Inter in the semi-finals. In the end, Honka beat Inter.
The turnover of key players lower than HJK can be a weapon for KuPS from at least the beginning of the season. Only those who played the most from Kuopio left Nana Boateng, Jordan Sebban and Urho Nissiläwho was the best player in the series in 2021.
Latvian Janis The most beautiful and the lynx Joona Veteli must succeed for KuPS’s offensive game to continue this season as well. Played in HJK for a long time Sebastian Dahlström can at best rise back to the elite of the series.
In the middle of last season come Tim Vayrynen still bears the main responsibility for scoring. The rugged striker banged nine goals in the final 13 games and was with Nissilä to turn the championship fight to KuPS.
Opening tour on Saturday 2.4: HJK – Honka, Haka – Ilves, KuPS – Inter, SJK – HIFK, VPS – AC Oulu, IFK Mariehamn – FC Lahti.
Serial format: Double Regular or 22 games per team. Six best in the championship series and six weakest in the challenger series. The final rounds are simple, meaning there will be 27 games in total as last season.
Last season: HJK took the championship before KuPS and SJK took the bronze. KTP fell to number one. AC Oulu held its place after the qualifiers. The VPS rose to the league. The finish line of the main series was shared by 14 hits Interin Benjamin Källman and SJK’s Tuco.