Finnish Veikkuasliiga and FC Lahti v Ilves results so far
Finnish Veikkausliiga is kicking off again after a small break and today 9th place FC Lahti and 1st place Ilves face each other in Lahti. Every team has played 13 to 16 games so far. Ilves leads the league by one point, but has played 2 games less than 2nd place Honka and 3rd place KuPS, who are 2 points away. Reigning Finnish champion HJK has found it's form and is fourth, three points behind Ilves, but they have 3 games more played. Ilves has 8 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss in 13 games. They have scored 18 goals, while giving away 7. Striker Lauri Ala-Myllymäki leads Ilves in goals. The 22-year-old has found the net 8 times this season.
FC Lahti is currently 9th, tied in points with 8th place HIFK and 10th place RoPS. Lahti is 8 points away from 6th place that would lead them in Championship group. The bottom six has to play in relegation group. FC Lahti has played 14 games and they have 3 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses. They have scored 13 goals, while giving away 18. Gael Junior Etock and Josue are leading FC Lahti in scoring as they both have 3 goals each.
FC Lahti v Ilves - League form in past 5 games
FC Lahti is not in a great form. The home team has 1 win, one draw and three losses in their past 5 Veikkausliiga games and are now running a 4 game winless streak. During these 5 games FC Lahti has scored 0,6 goals per game on average, while giving away 1,8. On FC Lahti's defense they have faced some really though opponents like FC Inter and KuPS. Etock scored 2 out of FC Lahti's 3 goals in those 5 games.
Away team Ilves is obviously on fire right now. The top of the group has won four and lost one during their last 5 league games and have won four games in a row. During their past 5 league games Ilves has scored 2,4 goals per game on average, while giving away 1,2. Ala-Myllymäki is red hot as he has scored 6 goals in 3 games.
Conclusion and what to bet on FC Lahti v Ilves
As told earlier, these two teams are going in totally different directions. While FC Lahti has not won in four games, Ilves has won 5 games in a row if you count in Finnish League Cup win over IFK Mariehamn. FC Lahti can't rely on their home advantage since they are ranked 9th playing at home. FC Lahti has played at home 7 times this season and they have won twice, drawn once and lost 4 times. They have scored 3 times at home, while giving away 10 goals. Ilves is the best away team in the league. In 7 away games played Ilves has won 5, drawn once and lost once. They have scored 9 goals and allowed 4.
Normally Ilves plays really tight games when it comes to ball possession and goal scoring chances. Lately Ilves has won the scoring chances abut are still controlling the ball basically as much as their opponent. FC Lahti on the other hand has been ran over by big teams, but against other they get ball possession and chances to score, but they are not doing anything with the ball. Lahti has now gone 2 and a half games without scoring.
Ilves defence is too much
One of the main reasons for Ilves success is their defense. Allowing only little over 0,5 goals per game on average the whole season so far it's obvious that their defence is working. Ilves is a hardworking team with great defence and strong midfield helping both attack and defence. Ilves plays 4-5-1 formation which helps to reduce opponents scoring chances, when most attcks eventually stop at midfield. After taking only defensive wins at the start of the season, Ilves has now also started to score more.
Looking at these teams and their forms Ilves should win this game without a doubt. For Ilves everything is clicking right now and they are extremely hard to beat. Ilves has a huge game against HJK next weekend too, so full three points from Lahti would help preparing for the next game. Ilves will take this one home.
Pick for FC Lahti v Ilves:
Ilves
LeoVegas 1.95
LegolasBet 1.86
Lapalingo 1.85
OlyBet 1.90
EvoBet 1.90
VulkanBet 1.91
