RoPS - FC Lahti - the pick of the weekend

Jekyll and Hyde team RoPS host FC Lahti this weekend

Latest 6 games from the right:
RoPS: 0-0-3-0-3-3 —- Lahti: 0-0-3-1-1-1

Head to Head: 3-8-9

This season: 29.04.2009 Lahti – RoPS 4-1

The head to head stats do not support my idea of picking RoPS to be the pick of the weekend. Neither does their last result, as they lost 4-0 at MYPA. They also lost the first round game against Lahti, 4-1 away. Yet, I am pretty confident, and here is why.

RoPS do have the same problem year after year. They are always late when building the team and the early pre-season games are usually plain horrible as a lot of new players – most of them from Africa – are trying to get to used to the coldness and darkness that only Finnish Lapland can offer. The methods are different. Their fellow players are new. The pitch is either artificial or in appalling condition. The other teams seem to run over you, having started the pre-season 2-3 months earlier. The match-fitness is low and the run of losses does not really build up the self-confidence.

Then comes summer. There are already some games under your belt, some wins perhaps and the team has been built. It is complete. It has been born. The individual skill of the players is starting to show, the team is a unit. Even the local community is behind you again, supporting you. The northerners are used to their Africans by now. Things are picking up.

The trip to Rovaniemi is a long one. Some teams fly. Some do not. The home crowds are not big, but fierce. The team performs better at their home ground, which this season has been a temporary one at Susivouti and is in even worse condition than their usual ground. An unforgettable experience for the poor away team.

RoPS’s 6 home games so far have produced 2 losses, 1 draw and 3 wins, and there are a lot of speculations to be done about the losses if you so wish. Against Inter RoPS missed not one but two penalty kicks. Against Honka RoPS was in the lead until the 89th minute. The draw against Mariehamn is another excellent result.

RoPS vs. FF Jaro 5:3
RoPS vs. JJK 2:1
RoPS vs. FC Honka 1:2
RoPS vs. HJK 1:0
RoPS vs. IFK Mariehamn 0:0
RoPS vs. FC Inter 0:2

I see RoPS as one of the absolute best home teams in the Veikkausliiga.

The away team FC Lahti is another matter. They have travelled so far for seven away games and they won, well, they have not yet won a single game. The stats show 0 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses from their travels.

What is important here is that Lahti is still in the Europe League after winning Slovenian Gorica by 2-1 aggregate. It is a historical success for FC Lahti and their happy and proud players, apart for the legendary Jari Litmanen. Next week they travel to Belgium to meet Club Brugge.

Guess where the concentration is? Are they happy to take the Lapland trip now? Risk themselves getting injured and missing the highlight of the season?

The focus is on next Thursday. RoPS is just an obstacle, a distraction.

RoPS are not going to lose. If you want to take it safe, RoPS with a 0 handicap gives you 2.19 at Sbobet. It means that if the match is drawn the stake is returned. European bookies offer around 3 for a straight RoPS which is also a value bet.

My limit for RoPS dnb (draw-no-bet) is way under 2.00, and I can not see that this price lasting long.

Edit: The price has come down to 1.92 which was expected.