TPS Turku and FC Lahti meet forces at Veritas Stadion, in a match for Matchday 5 of the Veikkausliiga. The history of recent direct confrontations between these two teams indicates total balance, since there was 1 draw and 1 victory for each team in the last 3 games. The last head ‑ to ‑ head between these two teams, on 30‑09‑2018, ended with TPS Turku winning (2‑5). The home advantage may play an important role in this match, since FC Lahti presents considerable differences in their results at home and away.
TPS Turku :
After 4 losses, the home team is currently in 12th position, without having conquered any point. In their last match, they lost to the HJK Helsinki at home by (0‑2), after in the previous match having lost by (3‑1) away, in a match against Honka Espoo. This is a team little affected by the home factor, that is, it presents similar results at home and away, since in the last 30 games it has recorded 6 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses as a visitor, with 23 goals scored and 16 suffered; against 6 victories, 5 draws and 4 defeats in his stadium, with 17 goals scored and 12 suffered. In their last 10 home matches TPS Turku has recorded 3 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses.
In this competition, he lost the last 4 matches he played. His defense has not been very solid, since he suffered at least one goal in each of the last 4 matches, and his attack has not been very effective, since he did not score goals in 3 of the last 4 matches for this competition. In their home matches there is a tendency for few goals, since in 11 of the last 14 that have played there have been fewer than 3 goals.
The local team comes unmotivated to this match, since it returned this year to the first national division and they have not yet scored points in the competition. Despite being a traditionally strong team in the country, with 7 titles in this competition and a total of 13 national trophies, its last achievement was in 1975. In its most recent history, TPS Turku has alternated between one division and another and It should be no different this season: there are 4 losses in Veikkausliiga’s 4 rounds so far, with 7 goals conceded and only 1 scored. In this match against Lahti, the local team has a good chance to find the way to victory for, who knows, add at least their first point in the competition. However, despite having defensive problems, the visiting team has already shown that it has offensive quality to overcome the fragile defensive system of TPS Turku and win.
FC Lahti :
After 1 victory, 1 draw and 2 losses, the visiting team is currently in 8th position, with 4 points won. In their last match, they lost to the KuPS Kuopio out by (3‑0), after in the previous match they had won out, in a match against HIFK, by (0‑3). This is a team that curiously has been stronger outside than at home, since in the last 30 games it has recorded 8 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses as a visitor; against 6 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses in his stadium. In the last 10 away matches for all competitions, FC Lahti have won 6 and lost 4. Their offense needs to improve as they have not scored goals in 3 of the last 4 matches for this competition. In their home matches there is a tendency for goals, since 10 of the last 15 matches have ended with Over 2,5 goals. In the last 6 away matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have suffered 3 of their 8 goals between minutes (76′ ‑ 90 ‘).
This is a recent team in soccer, founded only in 1996, but make no mistake, Lahti is a team used to playing in the Finnish soccer elite, having reached the first division of the national championship just 2 years after its creation. . Since then, he has been relegated only once, in 2010, but returned the following year (2011), winning the second division title for the second time. However, Lahti have never won the Veikkausliiga and their record in the competition, so far, is not good. In 4 games played the team has 2 losses, 1 goalless draw and 1 away win, against HIFK, by (0-3): in total they suffered 7 goals and only scored 3. However, it is worth noting that the Most of the losses were against stronger opponents, those fighting at the top of the table. When playing against a weaker team, as in this match where they will face the last classified, Lahti generally does well. In all this year, the team has won 5 times, 4 of them away from home.
