Baltic Power Rankings after GW4: Žalgiris breathing down Riga’s neck, Panevėžys down two places

Baltic game week 4 (GW4) delivered more than a one surprising result, some of which are now setting up the Baltic power dynamic for some potentially significant changes in the coming week.

Riga FC continued their poor start of the season form with a home loss to BFC Daugavpils who, on the back of this win, gained a place, climbing up to 12th. In Lithuania, Žalgiris struggled against DFK Dainava Alytus up until the very last moment of the match, when Yuri Kendysh managed to score the winning goal in the 99th minute. While a win over Dainava did not give defending A Lyga Champions much in terms of coefficient points, their ability to secure wins coupled with Riga FC’s inability to do the same means that Žalgiris are now only 13 coefficient points behind the wealthiest club in the entire region! Should this trend continue, Žalgiris can expect to overtake Riga FC and climb up to become the second most powerful club in the Baltics already within the next two weeks!

But, while the current Lithuania Champions are on the up an up, former Champions – FK Panevėžys – are looking much less convincing. After rescuing a single point against Banga over the weekend and in conjunction with pressure from immediate competitors in the Power Rankings, they dropped down two places to 9th as Paide stepped up to 8th and FK Auda up to 7th; both teams winning their respective games against underdog opponents over the weekend. Despite their heavy loss to RFS, FK Liepāja remain in the 6th position and Kauno Žalgiris keep hold of the 10th for the third week running.

Elsewhere, FK Metta finally showed movement for the first time since ranking began. Having stayed 16th since GW1, Metta strung two back-to-back wins together, which now saw them rise up to 14th, displacing FK Grobiņa and Tukums 2000, each of whom dropped a place.

At the bottom of the rankings, Harju still remain 30th while Kuressaare pushed Riteriai out of 28th. No other changes took place between 18-27 positions.

GW5 will bring an opportunity for Vaprus to overtake Dainava, with whom they are currently level on coefficient points. Vaprus will host the lowest-ranked team – Harju, while Dainava will face A Lyga leaders Sūduva in a regional derby. Kauno Žalgiris and FK Žalgiris will face each other in the Grunwald derby as Riga FC clash with Liepāja, giving the Lithuanian Champions a decent opportunity to make even more progress towards the second spot.