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Virslīga continues today with games in Liepāja and Rīga

FK Grobiņa. Image credit: Aiga Veisa

On the second day of the Latvian Virslīga, FK Grobiņa will host FS Jelgava in Liepāja at 18:00. At the same time in Rīga, Mežaparks Sport Village will feature a match between Riga FC and newcomers SK Super Nova.

Will Grobiņa end their 11-league game losing streak against the new look FS Jelgava?

This season, FK Grobiņa has a significantly larger budget than last season and has changed its name from Grobiņas SC/LFS (Grobiņas Sporta Center/Liepājas Football School) to the simpler FK Grobiņa. Despite the increased budget, the club has not spent it heavily on new players. Manager Viktors Dobrecovs stated that the financial boost will first strengthen the foundation and infrastructure of Grobiņa organisation.

In the offseason, Grobiņa strengthened its squad with a mix of foreign players as well as established Virslīga players such as former league MVP Gļebs Kļuškins, Maksims Sidorovs (a Liepājas Football School graduate who previously played for FK Tukums 2000), goalkeeper Vladislavs Lazarevs, and younger talents including Oļģerts Raščevskis and Tomašs Mickevičs.

The biggest departure from the team is Rūdolfs Meļķis, who has joined his brother at FK Liepāja. Additionally, last season’s starting goalkeeper Artem Malysh has also left the team.

FK Grobiņa is currently on an 11-game league losing streak dating back to last season, and they will be eager to end that streak against FS Jelgava.

Meanwhile, FS Jelgava just recently learned they would remain in the Virslīga because of Valmiera FC financial problems. They secured three quality players from the same Valmiera: Roberts Veips, Kristers Alekseičiks, and Kristers Penkevics. Additionally, the team announced the signing of Czech sports director Miloslav Brožek, who has brought four Czech players to the club.

Aleksandrs Basovs has been appointed as the new manager of FS Jelgava. This will be his first role as a manager of a first-team club, as he previously worked with various Latvian youth national teams.

The two teams met four times in the league last season, and FS Jelgava emerged victorious in three of those matches.

Ervīns Pērkons promoted team again starts the season against Riga FC.

At the same time, Riga FC will face SK Super Nova. As is customary, Riga FC has appointed a new coach to start the season. Slovakian specialist Adrian Gula aims to implement an aggressive, fast-paced style of play featuring high pressing.

Uncharacteristically, Riga FC has retained almost all of its key players from last season. The most significant departure has been Hrvoje Babec, who was loaned back to the Croatian league. Most other players who left were backups with sporadic playing time.

In terms of new signings, Riga FC has brought in some Brazilians with experience playing in Europe, as well as former Valmiera FC player Meissa Diop. However, the standout addition might be Peruvian winger Joao Grimaldo, who joins on loan from Partizan. The 22-year-old has made eight appearances for the Peru national team, scoring once.

Riga FC is looking to dethrone RFS’s dominance, and this season could be their chance, starting with today’s match against Super Nova.

As for Super Nova, they remain under the guidance of coach Ervīns Pērkons, who led them to Nākotnes League win and automatic promotion to the Virslīga last season. While they have lost some starting players from last year’s squad, they have made significant signings in the offseason. The most notable addition is former Latvian national team defender Mārcis Ošs, who will strengthen the center-back pairing with Dāvis Vējkrīgers. With former goalkeeper Bite leaving, Super Nova needed a new keeper, which they found in RFS’s Frenks Dāvids Orols. He will join fellow RFS players Jevgēņijs Miņins and Mamadou Sylla on loan.

The last time Ervīns Pērkons’s team [managing FS Jelgava] faced Riga FC at the start of the season was in the opening game of 2023. It was a tight match, and Pērkons gave the Riga staff a run for their money, losing just 1-2 due to a last-minute goal.

Will we see a similar scenario today? We will find out later today.

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