Venue
Magnum Arena Kuopio. Artificial pitch, also HJK play their home matches on astro-turf.
Weather 0-5 Celsius, possibility of rain
TV coverage Urho TV. Streams?
Latest results
KuPS - MyPa 2-0 friendly, KuPS- TamU 3-1 lc, KuPS - JJK 2-1 lc
KuPS - MyPa 2-0 friendly, KuPS- TamU 3-1 lc, KuPS - JJK 2-1 lc
HJK - Viikingit f 2-1, HJK - Jaro 1-3 lc, Lahti – HJK 4-1 lc
Last season HJK 1st in the league with 52 (29/23 home/away) points, KuPS 12th with 23 points (13/10).
Latest mutual matches: 2009 HJK won both league matches 0-3 and 5-1, but lost at the Finnish cup at Kuopio 1-0.
Program the following week:
JJK – KuPS Finnish Cup 4th round, exact date undecided (20-22.4?) & 25.4 KuPS - FC Lahti Veikkausliiga.
HJK – Haka 26.4 Veikkausliiga
Injuries:
KuPS def Joni Nissinen & mf Miikka Turunen,
HJK long-term def Mathias Lindström and f Akseli Pelvas. Aki Riihilahti will miss a couple of games
Doubtfuls:
KuPS def Atte Hoivala,
HJK f Jarno Parikka
Suspensions:-
Returns: HJK mf Janne Saarinen and f Jarno Parikka from long-term injury.
Club form and performances: KuPS struggled a bit in the early stages of the league cup, but the work of coach Esa Pekonen and the returns of Ollo and Dickson and mf Miikka ilo hitting form again has turned KuPS into a seriously taken Veikkausliiga club. In the latest pre-season friendly KuPS took a comfortable win and a boost for their league hopes by beating MyPa at home 2-0. HJK did have to do without Sorsa as a winger for their latest matches and he has been replaced properly by young and talented Johannes Westö. On the left flank Dawba Bah has been left alone, and he has tried to take part too much in the game by leaving his position and trying to be a play-maker with poor success.
Key factors: HJK wingers Bah and Sorsa, KuPS ”beast” Dickson as he was called in the excellent Nordic Football News season preview. If they are let loose, there will be goal opportunities at both ends of the pitch. Petri Oravainen has a chance to show HJK coach Muurinen what he does miss, before his spell abroad and unlucky return to HJK Oravainen was one of the best players of the league. HJK have a lot of players for the anchor man role in the midfield – actually way too many – but lack a play-maker and if the wingers do not get the ball enough HJK lack imagination and creativity big time. Medo is good, but mostly only in defending.
Questionmarks:
HJK striker Danny Hoesen, a new loan from Fulham reserves. He might be a good striker, but he has joined the team only recently and has no matches under his belt.
HJK central defender Peter Magnusson from Djurgården also looked very weak and uncomfortable with the ball in his first match vs. Jaro a couple of weeks ago.
KuPS full-backs are a mixture of old and young, but to be able to shut down HJK wingers they need help from the midfield, and defending has not always been their biggest strength. A humble and hard-working attitude is needed.
In the media KuPS have been estimated to be relegation material and HJK 1st or 2nd best. It is not totally wrong to see it like that, but the league is more even than it has been for years, and HJK with their injury-struck pre-season and rather a thin material both in the defence and in the attack might also end up in the upper mid-table, and with a good start for the season for KuPS they have at least big hopes for survival and even for a lower mid-table finish. In that light HJK are far from being sure winners away at Kuopio tonight.
Possible starting line-ups:
KuPS: Vilmunen gk–Taipale–Holopainen–Balogh–
HJK : Wallen gk–Kansikas/(Sumusalo)–
Especially for HJK there is a number of variety, Rafinha can be a winger, Kärkkäinen a full-back, Sumusalo on the right and so on.
Current odds KuPS + 0,5 @ 1.91 - HJK -0,5 @ 2.01. Any value? Which way are they moving? More detailed betting information available in the Newsletter.
Order yours from puntteri@gmail.com, Now!
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