Tampere United – JJK Jyväskylä April 23rd 2010 18.00 CET
TamU started the league season in the same way they finished the league cup, playing badly and getting no results from their trip to Oulu (3-0). They received another big blow when striker Aleksei Kangaskolkka got injured early in the game and their already weak and thin material got a bit thinner.
Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?
There is some relief tonight for the hosts. Striker Jonne Hjelm who got stuck in his travels because of the icelandic volcano eruption is back, fit and available, Brazilian midfielder William De Mattia ( Dema from now on) has returned from Brazil and will probably start if the license is in order, and a long-term TamU work horse Jari Niemi finally signed a contract with TamU and will strengthen the midfield significantly.
The injury list of TamU is still long, but compared to the last week´s game the situation is a way better. Toni Järvinen, Aapo Lappalainen, Jesse-Juho Kuusisto, Jari Nikkilä will be joined by Kangaskolkka, and according to the manager Ari Hjelm there are also some players in doubt, including midfielder Tuomas Haapala. Kangaskolkka is an important absentee, and Haapala would do well if he was let to do what he knows best, being the hard-defending anchor man.
JJK have not played since the league cup final, in which they got a ft goalless draw with FC Honka but ended up losing the penalty shoot out. Their first match at Vaasa was postponed because of bad pitch conditions, and they have had time to concentrate on the season opener. It remains to be seen whether it has done them good or bad having a longish break between matches.
The league cup success was a good sign of the improvement of the JJK side who were below par last season but were saved by the fact that there was an even worse team in the League, RoPS, but as usual the stats and success do lie.
JJK played in the worse league cup group - 6 best teams were in the other group - and they also had lady luck on their side in both 1/8-finals against TPS (2-2, won the penalties) and away at Jaro (0-1), where the hosts were constantly bombarding the visitors. Their luck – and good effort - continued in the final where Honka were not at their sharpest in front of the goal.
JJK do have a good goal-keeper in Szerovay, the defense line is strong and experienced at least in the center with Juha Pasoja and Jarkko Okkonen, and Touko Tumanto is a useful all-round midfielder. Up front they have Mikko Hyyrynen who is the only one to cause trouble for the defence and can create something himself, Tommi Kari is more annoying than effective and is Mika Lahtinen is a prototype of a Ykkönen side striker. Not bad as such, but not good enough for the league.
The bad news is that Mikko Hyyrynen is injured and will not play, and the midfield lacks strength and skill. Young midfielder Patrick Poutiainen is back from injury, but the combination of a soft and uneven pitch and hard TamU men Sakari Saarinen and Jari Niemi is not ideal for young Patrick.
Despite the shortcomings of TamU lately and the fact that they are suffering from their yearly crisis they still are the better of these two lower mid-table teams, and with the home advantage they are 45 % favourites in my books to win this low-scoring Friday night encounter.
Early price for TamU -0,25 @ 2.08 was @ Sbobet, but Newsletter customers this morning and other enlightened individuals have dropped to price now down to 1.87. Check from the table below what the limits are. Projected line-ups here;
| 23.04.10 | TamU | JJK | |
| -0,75 | 2,73 | 1,58 | 0,75 |
| -0,5 | 2,22 | 1,82 | 0,5 |
| -0,25 | 1,8 | 2,25 | 0,25 |
| 0 | 1,51 | 2,96 | 0 |
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