In the Veikkausliiga, in light of the statistics, a season of rare quality is expected. Honka, KuPS and HJK all play in the first round of the championship, writes Urheilu’s Jussi Vainikka.
What an autumn lies ahead in the Veikkausliiga! With three rounds of the regular season to play, the three teams are tied at the top of the league in points – they even have the same number of wins, draws and losses.
The top spot is held by the surprising FC Honka. The most urgent were already ready to send a long-term head coach Vesa Vasaran by subway out of the Tapiola sports park after a difficult last season.
What else – the ninth place has changed to a high flight and realistic talks about the Finnish championship. HIFK, already condemned to relegation, became the latest victim of Honga’s efficient and quick ball movement.
Honka has scored four goals or more in his last six matches no less than four times. Especially a winger Rui Modesto the pace has been amazing. The Portuguese was recently chosen as the July player in the league. There have been five goals and nine assists. Only Inter’s golden leg is ahead in the pass market Petteri Forsell.
Right now, Honka knows how to play on the wing better than others in the league. Even last season, Vasara relied on the system of three top players, but the jackpot was found by returning to the line of four defenders. The solution has also clarified attacking play.
Honka has scored no less than 41 goals in the series, while KuPS has hit the net 33 times and HJK 29 times.
In addition to the usual changes in the game, Honka made a strong impression on the transfer market in the winter. German Florian Krebs and Dutch Kevin Jansen arrived in Espoo with hard CV papers and have lived up to expectations also in real action in midfield. 19 years old Agon Sadiku has scored nine goals in his first league season.
Among the players already experienced in the Veikkausliiga, the goalkeeper Maxim Rudakov and topper Aldayr Hernandez have been button purchases. Originally from Kerava Ville Koski20, is playing himself alongside Hernandez in the big leagues.
Based on Monday’s HIFK match, even the Espoo audience is waking up to the SC gold battle. The tube grandstands of the Tapiola sports park were filled with more than 3,000 spectators, which was by far the largest audience of the season. For the previous home match against VPS, Honka, who was in top form, gathered only a little over 800 spectators.
It says a lot about Honga’s goodness that KuPS and HJK, who were initially forced into a one-on-one championship match, are also playing a great season. The average score per match of the top three exceeds two limits, which is exceptional in the Veikkausliiga.
In the 2010s, HJK has won the championship every time it has reached an average of more than two points. Of the other previous champions, Inter reached an average of more than two points in 2008. SJK, IFK Mariehamn and KuPS, who reached the championships in the 2010s, fell short of that magical number in their golden years.
The 2.15 point average collected by KuPS last season is the highest with which the championship has not been won in the Veikkausliiga. KuPS has firmly risen alongside HJK among the giants of the Veikkausliiga and this season also had to experience the dark sides of the position they deservedly acquired.
Interest in KuPS has grown significantly and activities are observed with a more precise magnifying glass than before. CEO of the club Jarmo Heiskanen There was an uproar around the operating methods in May. Success coach Simo Valakarin the aspiration to become the head coach of the Scottish team Motherwell also raised concerns in Kuopio’s Mölymäki.
Valakari went to Scotland for an interview, but was left without a job, so the situation around the team has calmed down at KuPS. Even the European rush is over, as the Swiss Young Boys left no opportunities for KuPS in the Conference League.
KuPS’ Euro sky was exceptionally heavy, as it included exhausting trips to Georgia and Moldova, as well as to Turku, where KuPS had to play one of its home matches away from home.
KuPS has spent most of the season at the top of the league, but the loss to SJK in the previous round leveled the points with Honga and HJK. The championship, which seemed almost certain last season, went to HJK in the last moments.
So there are plenty of events. KuPS is now experiencing pressures that Kuopio could only dream of in previous years.
HJK struggled with scoring problems in the first matches of the season, but the game has stayed together better and more balanced in the league last season. There has been one losing streak of two matches in the season, but otherwise the result has come. More than two months have already passed since HJK’s last league loss.
The head coach Toni Koskelan on Sunday, mouths stretched into a smile and at the same time a hint of disbelief when asked about HJK’s “not so strong” early season at the press conference of the Haka match. Although the goals did not come as expected, the team won eight of the first 10 matches and lost only one.
As Koskela said and the statistics show, without the top seasons of KuPS and Honga, HJK would have run away in the table with an average of more than two points, as has been seen many times before. For the rest of the season, HJK’s challenge is the backlog of matches brought by the group stage of the Europa League. The group stage will be played at a record pace because of the World Cup starting in November.
So far, HJK has survived the stress of the European games better than last season, and there have been no points losses.
Of the individual players in the championship fight, the most significant position may well be the one who returned to the club on loan from Helsingborg Lucas Lingmanwho has paced the midfield excellently in HJK’s well-run European games against Maribor and Silkeborg.
The entire top three meet one more time in the final series. Honga and HJK have two meetings ahead, as HJK travels to Tapiola in the last round of the regular season. The tube stands are filled to capacity for the first time in years.
It is quite possible that with an average of more than two points, we will be left with bronze for the first time.
The Veikkausliiga matches are followed live on Saturday in Puhe’s Sports Tour. Honka will face AC Oulu at home and KuPS will face Inter away. HJK will play a home match against SJK on Sunday.