by Mantas Aliukonis
The first round of Lithuania’s A Lyga isn’t even over yet, and already teams across the league are feeling the brutal sting of injuries. Altogether, A Lyga squads have lost at least ten players to serious injuries, and when counting the lighter setbacks, the number easily climbs past twenty. Among the hardest-hit clubs are FK Žalgiris, FA Šiauliai, Marijampolė’s Sūduva, and Kauno Žalgiris.
Down Before the Season Even Began
For Sūduva and Kauno Žalgiris, the damage started even before kickoff. Nigerian midfielder Oyinlola Kayode and Afghanistan international striker Omran Haydary both tore their ACLs during preseason preparations, ruling them out for the entire campaign.
FK Žalgiris wasn’t spared either. Serbian striker Nikola Petković and newly signed defender Petar Bosančić both went down during preseason training. In a gruesome twist of fate, Bosančić ruptured both his Achilles tendon and the ACL in one leg. Despite passing his medicals and being officially registered with the league, the Balkan center-back was never formally unveiled by the club.
Spotlight on Šiauliai
This week, we turn our focus to FA Šiauliai, the “City of the Sun” club, and their growing list of casualties.
Deividas Šešplaukis has yet to feature this season after suffering a serious knee injury late last year. The midfielder from Pakruojis is eyeing a July return, at best, after a second ACL tear in less than two years. The 27-year-old first went down in September 2023, missing eight months of action.
Šiauliai’s defensive core took another blow when 21-year-old Kristupas Keršys suffered the same cruel fate—another ACL tear in the same leg as last year. Expected to develop into a key center-back this season, Keršys is now ruled out for the remainder of 2025.
But Šiauliai’s injury troubles are not new. Defender Jevhen Yefremov missed all of last season with a similar knee injury. Goalkeeper Lukas Paukštė has yet to return following meniscus surgery last summer.
Striker Augustinas Klimavičius, no stranger to surgeries himself, suffered another major injury during a March clash against Hegelmann—the same club against which he endured his most devastating injury years ago.
Adding to the long list, academy product Matas Gasiūnas, a promising 21-year-old midfielder, has also been sidelined since last summer.
A Grim Week for Šiauliai
A Lyga Matchday 7 matchup between Šiauliai and Riteriai ended in a high-scoring draw but came at a heavy price. Two Šiauliai players were forced off with fresh injuries.
First, 22-year-old left midfielder Deividas Dovydaitis pulled up mid-sprint, clutching the back of his thigh in visible agony. Initial tests confirmed a hamstring injury that will sideline him for at least two months. Then in the second half, right winger Eligijus Jankauskas went down after a sprint and also had to leave the pitch assisted by team staff. He now faces at least six weeks on the sidelines. Jankauskas, who previously underwent meniscus removal surgery, has been battling physical setbacks for over a year—a struggle that has clearly impacted both his form and mental state.
Sources suggest that both Dovydaitis and Jankauskas suffered hamstring-related injuries, with possible muscle tears. Hamstring injuries often leave a telltale bruise a few days post-injury, and recovery times vary depending on the severity. And it doesn’t end there—midfielder Benny Silva collapsed to the turf unchallenged during the same match. The Portuguese player wasn’t even sprinting, raising serious questions about conditioning and player care.
Who’s Responsible?
As Šiauliai continues to lose player after player, serious questions arise: who is responsible for this injury crisis? Should the municipally funded club, supported by taxpayers’ money, be held accountable? Is it time for the city and its citizens to start demanding answers?
Šiauliai’s injury curse is becoming a pattern—and alarm bells are ringing louder than ever.
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