Is TamU going to repeat the 5-0 League Cup thrashing?
Lahti is going through a bad period at the moment and the last win 17th of May home win against Jaro. There is something missing in their style of play, and not even the Return of the King Jari Litmanen has helped them lately. They lost to Haka away 3-0 this week after controlling the first half, but the second one was Haka´s and Lahti lost their grip after the first goal.
Lahti has a full squad to choose from except Jukka Veltheim who will be out for the rest of season.
Tampere United is under-achieving a second year in a row, but the results are a bit misleading as the performances on the pitch are far better than the results. The lack of goals is what separetes TamU from the top teams and especially the strikers have found it hard to score, even from the penalty spot. TamU has missed already two penalty kicks this season.
TamU is also riddled with injuries. The newest victim is playmaker Antti Pohja 7/1, but the head coach Ari Hjelm is not worried: ” The most important thing is to get 11 healthy players on the pitch, that is enough as we have young players on the bench to help when needed.”
The game is played on Saturday night, which is not a traditonal time in the Veikkausliiga but should attract more spectators and better atmosphere on the pitch. The game is not exactly a derby, but could turn into a very heated and passionate affair.
Lahti:3-0-0-1-0-0
Tamu: 0-0-3-0-0-3
h2h: 4-4-10. Last game league cup 21.02 2009 Tamu-Lahti 5-0
FC Lahti: Szentpeteri 7/0 – 2 Heikki Haara 11/0 – 3 Henri Toivomäki 11/0 - 4 Janne Moilanen 4/0 – 6 Kalle Eerola 8/0 - 8 Mohamed Fofana 11/3 - 9 Rafael 10/2 – 11 Drilon Shala 11/5 – 14 Konsta Hietanen 11/0 – 15 Jukka Vanninen 10/0 - 17 Eero Korte 11/1
Bench: 10 Jari Litmanen 7/0, 12 Toni Huuhka 8/1, 19 Riku Heini 6/0, 20 Jonne Kemppinen 9/1, 21 Kaarlo Rantanen 2/0, 22 Juha Tuomi (gk) 4/0
Out: 7 Jukka Veltheim 2/0 for the rest of the season
Coach : Ilkka Mäkelä
TamU: 12 Juha Soukiala (gk) 8/0 , 18 Rafinha 10/1, 3 Mathias Lindström 10/1 – 7 Jussi Kujala 10/1 13 Sakari Saarinen 10/0 - 17 Vili Savolainen 7/0 – 20 Juska Savolainen 10/1 - 5 Antti Ojanperä 8/1 - 22 Henri Scheweleff 9/1 – 1 Aleksei Kangaskolkka 9/0 – 30 Jari Niemi 10/0
Bench: 9 Juha Pirinen 4/0, 11 Aleksei Kangaskolkka 9/0, 16 Ilari Ruuth 1/0, 21 Jonne Hjelm 10/0
Out: 1 Mikko Kavén (gk) 2/0, 2 Toni Järvinen 10 0/0, 10 Toni Petrescu 4/0, 23 Chris James 0/0, 25 Aapo Lappalainen 2/0, 8 Antti Pohja 7/1
Coach : Ari Hjelm
Prediction : Away win (1-3)
Lahti won 2-1, depending on who you ask deservedly or not, but at least the got the last 20 minutes in control and that was enough.
VastaaPoista