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On Wednesday, FC "Šiauliai" is traveling to Tallinn, where on Thursday evening at 18:45 they will face one of the leaders of the Estonian championship, Tallinn's "Levadia" club.
Recently, both teams have been demonstrating good results in their respective national championships. FC "Šiauliai" has suffered only one defeat in their last nine matches. On the other hand, "Levadia" has not experienced a single defeat in 18 games.
Currently, "Levadia" is in third place in the Estonian "Meistriliiga" with 42 points, trailing behind Tallinn's "Flora" and Tallinn's "Kalju". It is worth noting that only one foreign player, Roman Smiško, a former goalkeeper of Vilnius "Vėtra," plays for "Levadia", hailing from Ukraine.
Despite being a relatively young club, Tallinn's team has already made a name for themselves in Estonian football elite, having won the Estonian champions trophy six times since 1999 and the Estonian Cup five times. However, in the last couple of seasons, "Levadia" narrowly missed out on the championship title, losing to Tallinn's "Flora" in 2010 and 2011.
According to the UEFA club rankings, Tallinn's "Levadia" is currently in 278th place with 3.5 points, which is the best result in Estonia and the third-best in the Baltic countries. FC "Šiauliai" is ranked 356th with 1.8 points.
Both teams have faced each other before. In April 2011, during a Baltic League match in Estonia, "Šiauliai" emerged victorious. In the very beginning of the match, Edvinas Jasaitis scored the only goal just 13 seconds in. The return match in Lithuania ended in a 0-0 draw, leading "Šiauliai" to the next stage due to their away victory.
The opponents have left a good impression on Šiauliai's coach Gediminas Jarmalavičius. "They are a very mobile team, young, and physically well-prepared. They always know where the ball is and press the opponent who has the ball with at least three players. 'Levadia' usually plays in a 4-4-2 formation, with two powerful forwards. All defenders are tall and strong, providing great support during set pieces. It's quite remarkable that one of the team's top scorers with 6 goals is defender I. Morozovas. They play very tactical, dynamic football, with great movement both lengthwise and widthwise on the field. Perhaps the only thing to note is that sometimes there are gaps between the midfielders and defenders that we will try to exploit," analyzed the coach.
According to him, it's a young, motivated, and well-played team. "Practically, the entire core of the team has been playing together for three years, creating a well-played team. The goal in Estonia is to score a goal and try not to concede."
The return match in Šiauliai will take place on July 12 at 19:00 at the central stadium of Šiauliai city.
