Haka vs EIF 12/04/2024

Haka vs EIF from the second round of the Veikkausliiga will see two sides that suffered narrow defeats in round 1 face each other. Can the newly promoted visitors earn their first points? Will Haka start justifying their high ambitions with results on the pitch?

Below we give you a short preview of the Haka vs EIF clash. 

Haka latest: Can the new manager record his first win? 

Haka lost in their first game despite playing well. They were edged 1-2 at home by VPS. The new Northern Irish head coach Adam Smith has a unique style. Haka play fast and free-flowing football under Smith. It seems the players like that but they are still getting used to this style of play not used by any other team in Finland. 

Haka team news

For this second consecutive home match, Haka will be without their main left-back Ryan Mahuta. He was sent off in round 1 and now serves a ban. Hassan Ndam is fit and ready for his debut though. 

Both Rodrigo Macedo and Imani Lanquedoc started in the first game. They both picked up injuries straight away though and now will be missing. Goalkeeper Liam Hughes also remains sidelined. 

Haka player to watch: Evangelos Patoulidis 

Haka’s new winger Evangelos Patoulidis made his Veikkausliiga debut off the bench last weekend. He scored straight away his first goal in Finland too. Patoulidis has a style of play that fits perfectly in the tactics of coach Smith and we expect him to make his first start now. Considering, the immediate impact he made last weekend we won’t put it past him if he scores again in round 2. 

Haka vs EIF line-up

Lepola (GK), Bah-Traore, Ndam, Nicolas, Talo, Fall, Guilherme, Kilo, Patoulidis, Mastokangas, Bacanin

EIF latest: When will the first points be earned?

EIF celebrated their return to the top flight last weekend. Excited and pumped up Garcia’s men scored twice inside the opening 18 minutes on their visit to IFK Mariehamn. Noah Lundström scored both goals. Despite this great start Ekenas looked nervous and ended up losing 2-3. 

EIF team news

Ekenas are not expected to make drastic changes to their starting 11 immediately. There seem to be no major health issues in the team. New striker Themoko Fofana still lacks fitness though so he might have to wait for his debut. 

Ekenas player to watch: Noah Lundström

After his 2 goals in the first game, the striker will be high on confidence. His ability to find pockets of space inside the box impressed in round 1. Can he keep this up? 

Haka vs EIF line-up

Giannakopoulos (GK), Katz, Kabashi, Lehtonen, Mohamed, Kofi Adu, Lindholm, Lucas, Efimov, Mohammed, Lundström 

Haka vs EIF – head-to-head and other stats

• Haka vs EIF H2H – W9 D5 L5 – This will be the first-ever meeting between the sides in the top flight. 
• Haka scored 3 or more goals in each of the last 4 H2Hs. 
• Haka scored the opening goal of the game in all of their last 6 home matches vs EIF.