Top meets second from bottom as Valmieras play hosts to Spartaks Jurmala at the Jānis Daliņš Stadium this Thursday with the first-placed side expected to take one giant leap towards the Latvian Higher League title.
It is only Valmieras’ fifth season back in the first tier of Latvian football after previously having a 14-year absence. They have got better and better each year, and since 2019, they have moved from fourth up into first in 2022.
Optibet Virslīga 2022, 19. kārtas spēles pret Riga FC (2:0) apskats.#RIGVAL #Virsliga2022 #OptibetVirsliga #ValmieraFC #StāvPāriVisamValmiera ⚫⚽️🟢https://t.co/AprFUhWSAn— Valmiera FC (@valmierafc) June 28, 2022
Optibet Virslīga 2022, 19. kārtas spēles pret Riga FC (2:0) apskats.#RIGVAL #Virsliga2022 #OptibetVirsliga #ValmieraFC #StāvPāriVisamValmiera ⚫⚽️🟢https://t.co/AprFUhWSAn
The club now have a healthy eight-point lead on second-placed RFS, who they have recently just destroyed 4-0 to further prove their worth as the best in Latvia this season.
Valmieras saw four different goalscorers get on the scoresheet for them that day, and with a 4-0 victory against second coming just before beating the third-placed Riga 2-0, many believe they already have one hand on the title.
That’s six goals and zero conceded against the two closest rivals to them in the title race inside a week.
What's more, the league leaders have only lost once all season long in Latvia, having bagged all three points on 16 occasions from 19 games. At the same time, they've scored the most goals in the division with 47 goals scored from just those 19 fixtures.
The most impressive part of this incredible run towards the title from Valmieras, however, is their defensive record.
In fact, with only eight goals conceded all season long, the club have only let in one goal in their past 11 games, as Liepaja scored in a 3-1 victory for Valmieras.
Spartaks could find themselves in a better position than most heading into this game despite being so far down the table, as attention for the league leaders could turn towards a hectic cup run incoming, with them having the Latvian Football Cup round of 16 to come against rivals Riga, and then their Europa Conference League qualification campaign in three weeks' time.
As for Spartaks, however, they are way down in ninth and the only thing keeping them from sitting bottom of the table is the fact Super Nova in 10th haven't won a game all season long and scored just seven times.
Spartaks did lose again over the weekend, as RFS took all three points from them. The club did beat Metta/LU just prior to this in a thrilling 4-2 victory, although they also lost 5-0 to Auda a week before.
Forebet predicts a win for Valmieras, and for the game to see over 2.5 goals.