TPS - MYPA preview

MYPA trying to stop goal-hungry TPS

TPS will field again gk Lehtovaara 10/0 and mf Hämäläinen 10/0 after their arrival from the EURO U21.

Home team head coach Pasi Rautiainen has used a lot of rotation, and on Saturday he has the full squad to pick from now when important mf Ääritalo 1/0 is recovering to full match-fitness after a serious injury last season. Ääritalo brings speed and cleverness into the team, as well as goals.

”MYPA is a team that needs to be taken seriously”, says mf Kasper Hämäläinen, ” we have not won them for some time. They have some good foreign players and experienced defense.”


Last season MYPA had slightly the advantage in the mutual games after drawing 0-0 at Turku and winning 1-0 at home. This pre-season they played a friendly on a neutral venue and drew 1-1. ”We need to concentrate to play well together as a team”, says MYPA head coach Janne Lindberg. ”TPS has scored a lot of goals lately and we need to stop them, especially now that we will miss our own playmaker Ady due injury (9/2).”

The weather at Turku is hot, and there is a warm welcome to be expected by the goal-thirsty home supporters. The match is played on a Saturday night and all the elements are there for a heated game. Scoring goals might be a bit difficult if we believe Lindberg :”We need to defend tight and remember at all times that we are the away team, but when the time is right, we must strike fast.”


TPS: 0-3-1-3-3-3
MYPA:3-1-1-0-0-3

h2h:7-3-8. Last game 24.08.2008 0-0 in the League.


TPS: 12 Jukka Lehtovaara 10/0 – 2 Iiro Aalto 10/0 – 5 Simo Valakari 6/0 - 6 Jaakko Nyberg 10/2 - 7 Sami Rähmönen 11/0 – 8 Jarno Heinikangas 11/0 – 9 Mikko Manninen 10/0 – 10 Riku Riski 11/4 – 16 Christian Andreasen 8/5 – 20 Babatunde Wusu 10/3 - 21 Wayne Brown 11/2

Bench: 3 Kalle Mäkinen 0/0, 11 Mika Ääritalo 1/0, 17 Roope Riski 0/0, 19 Patrik Lomski 6/0, 18 Chris Cleaver 8/0, 28 Mikko Paatelainen 11/2, 22 Jesse Saarinen 0/0, 29 Yll Hoxha 1/0, 23 Juho Lähde 0/0, 24 Jani Aaltonen 0/0, 25 Santeri Mäkinen 0/0, 27 Tuomas Markkula 0/0, 31 Alban Ferati 0/0, 14 Kasper Hämäläinen 10/0, 1 Jani Tuomala (gk) 1/0, 13 Samu-Petteri Mäkelä 8/0

Coach : Pasi Rautiainen

MYPA: 1 Antti Kuismala 10/0 – 4 Antti Uimaniemi 10/0 – 11 Ilari Äijälä 8/3– 18 Tuomas Aho 10/0 – 16 Toni Huttunen 10/1 - 6 Tuomo Könönen 9/0 - 24 Nebi Mustafi 5/0 – 2 Miikka Multaharju 10/0 - 7 Ben Webster 9/0 – 9 Saku Puhakainen 10/0 – 19 Maxim Votinov 8/2

Bench: 5 Jarno Tuunainen 0/0, 13 Toni Lindberg 7/0, 15 Ville Oksanen 9/0, 12 Mika Johansson (gk) 0/0, 14 Tosaint Ricketts 6/2, 20 Felipe Benevedes 1/0, , 23 Niko Nakari 4/0

Out: 3 Sampsa Timoska 5/0, 8 Ady 9/2

Coach: Janne Lindberg

Prediction : Draw (0-0)