Ilves – KTP 02-07-2025

We at 90minutefamily love to dig deep to find playable items for our followers. A relatively recent acquaintance is the Finnish Veikkausliiga. The top football division in Finland. The Veikkausliiga takes its name from the Finnish gaming company Veikkaus, Finland's answer to Norsk Tipping. The state-owned company has given its name to the top league since 1990.

The league has 12 teams, which according to the new rules now play a regular double series (22 games), before the league is divided in two, where they take the points they have collected during the season, and then play 1 more game against the teams that are in the part of the table they end up in. This ultimately gives a season that contains 27 games. A new and exciting way to do it from this season. It has been well received by the fans. The lowest team is relegated directly, while the second lowest must play a qualification against the second highest team from the division below.

For us, this has also been a relatively new acquaintance. But we have had five tips out in the last two weeks, with hits on all games so far. So this time we will take you through four games in this round. We believe all games are relevant. But we choose the first game as the main game, and put the others on the odds list. Here you can choose to combine a couple of games if you want, or try them all. That is up to you. But we always encourage you to play in moderation.

Ilves – KTP – Top to bottom.

We start with our main game of the day. Top team Ilves welcomes bottom team KTP to a match at Tammelan Stadium. A stadium that holds 8,000 spectators. It is actually one of the largest stadiums in Finland. That probably tells us that the public interest has not been that great in Finland's top league. But we have seen that the national team asserts itself at times, and football is on the rise in this country as well. As in Norway, this is of course also a spring/summer/autumn league, with the same climate challenges we know from our own league.

• Ilves – Top team again this year.

The team was top 3 in 2024, and has a clear goal of ending up in the same position this year. So far, the team is in 3rd place, among 5 teams where only 3 points separate them. The league is even, and it will probably last all the way. The team has never managed to win the league title since the league changed its name back in 1990, and it would have been fantastic if they could have taken the step all the way up there. The form is usable and the team is 4-1-1 in the last 6 matches. All 4 wins have ended with a two-goal victory or more. That is something we will try to exploit. The team is scoring a lot of goals at the moment, and has scored a total of 11 goals in the last four. So we are pretty sure that they will score some here too. The top scorer on the team is an old acquaintance for those of us who follow football in Norway. Roope Riski, who has matches for both Hønefoss and Haugesund.

• KTP – Promotion can quickly end in relegation.

The winner of the Ykkosliiga (second highest division) from last year has had a tough time so far this season. The team could easily be the team that goes down again. The team is number 11 of 12 teams so far. 12 matches have been played and the team has only taken 9 points so far. The form is not great, and they now have a streak of 1-2-3 in the last 6 matches. So it certainly tasted good with 3-2 in the last round of the series. First win in eight matches. The victory came against one of the other bottom teams. They will have a tough time in this match. Away the team performs poorly and has 1-0-5 and 5-16 in goal difference so far.

• Conclusion – Ilves should be at least two goals stronger.

After studying these teams, there is no doubt that the home team will be the clear strongest. Both form and quality indicate that. The teams have met once earlier this year, and it ended with a 0-5 advantage for Ilves. When we get something as playable as this, we will have to try the following game.

Finland at 17:00: Ilves – KTP: Ilves wins -1.5 goals (1.63)

HJK – Jaro – Home team wins.

Let's say it right away. This match is won by the home team. HJK is the team in Finland with the most league championships, and has won 6 of the last 8 league championships. The team is in a challenging position, however, as they finished behind KuPS last year. The one team that has won the other two titles in the last 8 years. They are also hungry for revenge after losing their last league match. That is one of the rare things, and we refuse to believe that they will lose to the bottom team Jaro. One of the two teams that were promoted before this season.

• HJK – Must win to avoid losing ground.

HJK lost last. That means they have to win here. Because if you want to keep up with the tight game, the team can't have too many games in a row without points. The team started surprisingly weak this season, when they started with 3 straight losses. But they haven't lost since then, until they lost last time now. Who did they lose to? Well, the one that is about to become their arch-rival when KuPS won a full 3-0 at home. The team that won the series last year was too strong. They will definitely fight back against this, and we think it will quickly go beyond today's opponent. There is, and will be, a class difference between these teams.

• Jaro – Trying to avoid relegation.

The team, which has not tried itself at this level since 2015, has had a tough reunion with the division. There was a great atmosphere when the team finally moved up again, but they may have a tough time saving their place. The last 6 games have ended with 1-2 3. The last loss also came away against another bottom team that we wrote about in the previous game we analyzed. The team is struggling to score, and has only scored 12 goals in 12 games. Away they have still been better than at home, and have a total of 2-1-4 in 7 away games with a 7-9 goal difference, which indicates a team that defends itself for the points. They face a strong home team here, and will probably have a tough time.

• Conclusion – The home team wins by more goals.

The teams have met once before this season, and HJK won 0-3 away. We believe in a similar result this time too. The quality of these two teams is so different, that here it should end with at least a two-goal win or more. We get a nice odds on this, and therefore play the following bet.

Finland at 17:00: HJK – Jaro: HJK win -1.5 goals (1.69)

Inter – Mariehamn – Goal for the home team.

A somewhat surprising league leader, Inter, welcomes a team that belongs in the lower part of the table. Historically, Inter has been a team that is around the middle of the table. But this season they have really gotten off to a good start. The team leads the table at half-way through the series. That is surprising to many. But they have been solid, and even though they have stalled a bit lately, they still hold their own at the top. They rarely lose. Mariehamn, on the other hand, are so predictable that it is almost boring. They are currently in 8th place. About where they usually end up. There or worse. We will see where they end up in the end this season.

• Inter – Home team with a poor record.

Even though Inter are leading the league, we have to say that they have had a poor showing at home so far. They are 3-3-0 in 6 games with a goal difference of 14-4. Strictly speaking, it should have been a better point haul with that goal difference. The positive thing is that they are scoring goals. A team that likes to entertain. We also think today's opponent will suit them well in that respect. They face a team that is struggling a bit away. We have still had doubts about whether we should bet on whether they will win by more goals or not. Then we think we will bet on a slightly different game that could be just as interesting instead. But first let's take a look at the away team.

• Mariehamn – The form is failing.

The team was doing well for a while early in the series. But now the team has started to resemble the team they end up being every single year. A team in the lower half. They are now 2-1-3 in their last 6 and seem to have a declining form curve. In two of the last three they have also conceded over 4 goals. That bodes well for what we think in this match.

• Conclusion – The home team clearly seems the strongest.

The teams played 2-2 in the first meeting this year. A match that Inter should have won. 2.24 in xG against 1.01. We believe in similar dominance here too. Inter is known for scoring a lot of goals at home, and with a slightly failing form at Mariehamn, we think the home team will soon score some goals in this one. We therefore try the following bets:

Finland at 17:00: Inter – Mariehamn: Inter over 2.5 goals (1.89)

VPS – Haka – Always goal.

Historically, this is a team that fights for places around the middle of the table. It also looks like they will do so this year. VPS is number 6 and Haka is number 8. This is in line with the positions in recent years. In recent years, there has also been a good level of goals between these teams, and we believe that will soon be the case this year as well.

• VPS – Open both front and back.

The team in 6th place scores okay goals, but also concedes a little too many to fully interfere in the top battle. It has been like this for several seasons now, and stability is what is missing. It also leads to thoughts about a game we often like with teams that fluctuate a lot. There are goals in the game, and we will find out if there is value in this game too. But before that, it is good if we look a little at today's opponent.

• Haka – Often involved in matches with many goals.

The team has had periods when they have been good, and periods when they have been bad this season. Right now they are in a bad period. They look weak at the back and often concede a lot when they first concede. A perfect team for today's opponent. They can often contribute with goals, but can also suddenly lose big. That will give us an extra opportunity to land a goal game in this match. They can help in several ways. Either by biting off, or by completely unraveling.

• Conclusion – Two teams that smell goals.

As we started with, there is a good history between these two teams in recent matches. If we look at the matches from last year, as well as this year, all 4 of the last matches have ended with over 2.5 goals. We quickly think that this match could also end with that. So we try the following bet.

Finland at 17:00: VPS – Haka: Over 2.5 goals (1.70)

We hope people find this interesting. Remember to gamble in moderation.