Inter - TamU preview May 24th

Thank you again to Petri to Turku for this wonderful write-up!

After morale-boosting draw in the local derby against TPS Inter will now face the real bogey team Tampere United. 

There has always been some kind of love and hate relationship between Turku and Tampere and to Inter it has been a real nightmare. These teams have played 23 matches in Veikkausliiga and out of these matches only twice Inter has gotten all the three points and amazing 17 times Tampere has left the pitch as the winners!

Last season Inter led in both encounters, but received red card in both matches and ended up losing the first one in Tampere and drawing at home. Inter got their revenge in a very sweet way by beating TamU in the cup final in October. This title was very valuable for Inter since the team goes straight to the 3^rd round in the Europa league. And there are teams like Liverpool and Juventus waiting. By facing a big team Inter would get a huge financial boost since the stadium will be sold out with quite high ticket prices. Even one round would have a big impact for the club´s economy.

As said in the first sentence Inter surely got more self-confidence from the draw against TPS. Inter were 2-0 down but the they managed to score two brilliant goals and to gain a valuable point. But even more important than the point was the performance. Inter totally dominated for long periods and it looked like they might even score the 3^rd goal. And one more important point was Timo Furuholm's return to squad. He played only about 15 minutes against TPS but he has been training after that with the team and he is likely to play against TamU. So Inter has almost fully fit squad, only long-term absentees are gk Patrick Bantamoi and midfielder Joni Kauko are still missing.

Visiting team Tampere United had quite lousy pre-season and also the start to the  Veikkausliiga season was a disaster. Two first rounds produced two losses, with no goals scored, against mediocre AC Oulu and JJK. In the next three rounds TamU has gotten 7 points out of 9 possible, but the performances have not been too convincing. Yet TamU seems to have dangerous weapons against Inter. As I've said before Inter's defence isn't very physical and TamU has strong - or at least a tall - striker in Henri Myntti (196 cm) and Aleksei Kangaskolkka, so it's easy to believe that TamU will throw hundreds of long balls to Myntti's head and trying to get pressure into Inter's defence.

Verdict: Inter will control the ball as usual and trying to find the way to break TamU's defence. Inter's midfield played a great match against TPS and especially Finnish international Ari Nyman was very strong in the defensive role and if they continue on the same level it will cause big problems to TamU's midfield which is cleary weaker. And if Timo Furuholm is totally fit Inter will have for the first time a real striker in the starting line-up this season. TamU will, or have to, rely on long balls to Myntti and Kangaskolkka. Also set-pieces are dangerous since Inter doesn't have any power in the air. I suppose Inter are not too afraid even though TamU have been really tough opponent. After the cup victory Inter know they can beat TamU and after promising display against TPS Inter are quite a clear 50 % favourite at home.

European odds price limits; , asians for Newsletter customers for all matches;

2

3,45

4,76

Line-ups, TamU with a change into more defensive style as Haapala replaces Myntti:

Inter

12 David Monsalve
5 Daniel Antunez
7 Ari Nyman
9 Guillano Grot
14 Joni Aho
15 Severi Paajanen
17 Mika Ojala
22 Sami Sanevuori
27 Kennedy Nwankanga
28 Mika Mäkitalo
29 Henri Lehtonen

TamU

1 Mikko Kavén
3 Dema
4 Kristian Kojola
5 Antti Ojanperä
7 Tuomas Haapala
9 Juha Pirinen
11 Aleksei Kangaskolkka
13 Sakari Saarinen
17 Vili Savolainen
21 Jonne Hjelm
30 Jari Niemi