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In the Baltic Football League D group match on Tuesday in Tallinn, local TVMK will host Panevėžys "Ekranas" football players. It is likely that both teams will not have the strongest lineups on the field.
Tallinn "Kadriorg" stadium, 18:00 Baltic Football League D group match Tallinn - Panevėžys Referee - Sergejs Braga (Latvia)
The first match between these teams on March 6 at Vilnius "Sportima" ended with a 2-1 victory for Panevėžys. After Giedrius Tomkevičius scored at the beginning of the match and Liivo Leetma scored an own goal in the 34th minute, "Ekranas" led 2-0. However, Arturas Ossipovas converted a penalty kick in the 15th minute, and in added time, Oliver Konsa missed a hundred percent chance to equalize.
Before this match, both teams' coaches stated that they will likely give playing time to younger and less experienced players. "We'll let players who had fewer opportunities to perform in the Baltic League and Lithuanian Championship play. But this does not change our goals for this match," said "Ekranas" coach Saulius Širmelis.
"Ekranas" coach finally has the luxury of choosing from almost all players - the only injured player is Estonian legionnaire Taavi Rahn, who has played only 113 minutes for Panevėžys this season.
On Saturday, "Ekranas" unexpectedly defeated unbeaten "Vilnius" football players 2-1 in Vilnius. The goals for the team were scored by Moldovan Sergėjus Pogrebanas and Povilas Lukšys, who came on as a substitute. Prior to that, "Ekranas" played a goalless draw at home against Marijampolės "Sūduva."
The attacking leaders of the teams this season are Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, who has scored five goals, and Mantas Savėnas and Povilas Lukšys, who have four goals each. Deimantas Bička added two more goals. However, it is unlikely that all of them will play in Tuesday's match. We will probably see some lesser-known players on the field.
On the other hand, the Estonian capital's club has more injury problems: forwards Sergėjus Zenjovas and Vladislavas Gussevas and Latvian defender Vladislavs Gabovs will be unable to play. Moreover, due to disqualification, we won't see Latvian Evgenijaus Kačanovo on the field.
The most surprising thing is that although TVMK had difficulty scoring goals this season, playing without two injured forwards, they scored nine goals in their last two matches. The biggest recent sensation was a 6-0 victory over Talino "Flora" football players in the Estonian championship. It was the biggest defeat for "Flora" in the club's history. Before that, TVMK defeated Tuleviko "Viljandi" 3-1.
TVMK usually plays an attacking style of football, which is based on a combination of experience and young players. The tactical scheme of 4-4-2 often turns into 4-3-3, as Arturas Ossipovas usually plays as an "attacking midfielder".
The most prolific player in the team is Oliver Konsa, who has scored seven goals, followed by A.Ossipovas and Aleksandras Kulatshenko with five goals each, and Viktors Dobrecovs and Sergėjus Zenjovas with three goals each.
In the first match, "Ekranas" dominated the first half and scored two goals. Meanwhile, the second half belonged to us, we were very close to equalizing the score. Unfortunately, we lost the opportunity to fight for advancement, so we will probably give a chance to younger players to showcase their skills," said TVMK coach Viačeslavas Smirnovas. "In any case, we will aim to win at least with honor points."
Possible line-ups:
TVMK (strongest possible line-up): Vitali Teleš; Erko Saviauk, Tomas Rimas, Vladislavs Gabovs, Aleksandr Volodin; Nikolai Mašitšev, Artur Ossipov, Andrei Borissov, Sergei Terekhov; Viktors Dobrecovs, Oliver Konsa
"Ekranas": Bogdan Stefanovič; Linas Klimavičius, Deividas Padaigis, Laurynas Rimavičius, Aidas Tumėnas; Andrius Arlauskas, Dominykas Galkevičius, Donatas Petrauskas, Andrius Šidlauskas; Povilas Lukšys, Dainius Saulėnas"
