Baltic Power Rankings after GW5: big gains for Estonia and Lithuania

Gameweek 5 (GW5) in the Baltics was not sparse on surprising results, from FK Metta beating FC RFS for the first time since 2017 and Daugavpils beating Auda for the first time ever in Latvia to Riteriai pulling off a heroic comeback against Panevėžys in Lithuania to Kalev getting their first win of the season by putting 4 past Kuressaare in Estonia. As a result, there has been quite a bit of movement in the Power Rankings, some of it more surprising than other.

The big climbers

Paide, Vaprus, Šiauliai and Riteriai made major improvements to their fortunes during GW5, each of the clubs climbing two places. Paide and Šiauliai won their respective matches, whereas Vaprus found a draw against Harju enough to rise on the back of poor results of their direct competitors. Specifically, FC Kuressaare dropped to the bottom of the rankings for the first time since records began, whereas Harju rose from the bottom for the first time ever, now up to 29th. Riteriai, who have been making non-football related headlines all week, managed to pull off a determined comeback against Panevėžys to win 3-1 and improve their standings in the Baltics by two positions, up to 27th.

The big drops

On the other side of the coin, Panevėžys keep dropping in the rankings, losing another position and now sitting at number 10, having been displaced by Kauno Žalgiris who gained coefficient points by drawing against their higher ranked rivals FK Žalgiris in the Grunwald derby. FC Džiugas Telšiai also lost two places, having lost to Hegelmann. Even though Džiugas are doing alright this season thus far, they are in a very competitive spot in the Power Rankings, so even a relatively small loss of coefficient cost them all the gains they made in the rankings thus far.

No change in the Top 5… or is there?

There was no discernable movement among the Top 5 in the Baltics – RFS, Žalgiris, Riga FC, Flora and Levadia. However, it would be a mistake to think that nothing is happening there. Flora, having dropped out of the 1000+ coefficient club a couple of weeks ago are steadily making their way back, now a mere 6 coefficient points short, meaning that a win in the next game will bring them back and restore the ‘Baltic Big 4’. The only club in the Baltics who won all available points thus far this season, Levadia are making rapid progress to close the gap between this Big 4 and the 5th place, currently standing at 149 coefficient points. While this may seem daunting, Levadia have already gained 34 coefficient points since the start of the season, and it’s only been 5 games…

In the Top 3, RFS lost a whopping 23 coefficient points to Metta, whereas Riga FC gained 6 against Liepāja. The Grunwald derby saw no winner on the pitch but it was Žalgiris who lost in terms of coefficient points, dropping 7 to their rivals from Kaunas.

GW6 starts already today with three matches in Estonia and one in Latvia to get us started.