The 2019 Latvian Higher League , known as the Optibet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of top-tier football in Latvia. The season began on 9 March 2019 and ended on 9 November 2019.[1]
| Season | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Riga |
| Champions League | Riga |
| Europa League | RFS Ventspils Valmiera Glass ViA |
| Matches played | 144 |
| Goals scored | 384 (2.67 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Darko Lemajic (15) |
← 2018 2020 → | |
Riga were the defending champions from the previous season.[2]
Teams
edit
Locations of the 2019 Latvian Higher League teams
All eight clubs from the previous season remained in the league with Daugavpils joining the league as champions of 1.Liga 2018.[3]
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| BFC Daugavpils | Daugavpils | Celtnieks Stadium | 4,070 |
| FK Jelgava | Jelgava | Olympic Sports Center of Zemgale | 1,560 |
| FK Liepāja | Liepāja | Daugava Stadium | 5,008 |
| FK Metta/LU | Riga | Hanzas vidusskolas laukums | 2,000 |
| Riga FC | Riga | Skonto Stadium | 8,207 |
| FK RFS | Riga | Stadions Arkādija | 1,000 |
| FK Spartaks Jūrmala | Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 2,800 |
| FK Valmiera Glass ViA | Valmiera | J. Daliņa stadions | 2,000 |
| FK Ventspils | Ventspils | Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions | 3,044 |
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riga (C) | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 59 | 21 | +38 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | RFS | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 32 | +23 | 59 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[a] |
| 3 | Ventspils | 32 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 47 | |
| 4 | Valmiera Glass ViA | 32 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 46 | |
| 5 | Spartaks Jūrmala | 32 | 13 | 5 | 14 | 49 | 64 | −15 | 44 | |
| 6 | Liepāja | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 41 | 43 | −2 | 39 | |
| 7 | Jelgava | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 38 | |
| 8 | Daugavpils | 32 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 50 | −23 | 31 | |
| 9 | METTA/LU (O) | 32 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 35 | 60 | −25 | 26 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Fair-play ranking; 7) Play-off.[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Fair-play ranking; 7) Play-off.[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:
- ^ Since the winners of the 2019 Latvian Football Cup, RFS, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner passed to the next best-placed team, the fourth-placed team.
Results
editEach club played the other eight clubs home-and-away twice, for a total of 32 matches each.
|
|
Relegation play-offs
editThe ninth-placed team from the 2019 Higher League played the runners-up of the 2019 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off on 13–16 November 2019.[6] The winner, METTA/LU, will remain in the Latvian Higher League.
| 13 November 2019 1st leg | METTA/LU | 0–0 | SK Super Nova | |
| 17:30 |
| 16 November 2019 2nd leg | SK Super Nova | 1–3 (1–3 agg.) | METTA/LU | |
| 13:00 |
Statistics
editTop scorers
edit- As of match played 30 October 2019[7]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Darko Lemajić
|
Riga | 15 |
| 2 |  Tosin Aiyegun
|
Ventspils | 11 |
| 3 | Nemanja Belaković
|
Spartaks Jūrmala | 10 |
 Tamirlan Dzhamalutdinov
|
METTA/LU | ||
| 5 |  Tomáš Šimkovič
|
RFS | 8 |
 Vugar Asgarov
|
BFC Daugavpils | ||
| 7 | Tolu Arokodare
|
Valmiera | 7 |
 Jānis Ikaunieks
|
Liepāja | ||
| 9 |  Roman Debelko
|
Riga | 6 |
 Tomáš Malec
|
RFS | ||
 Kgotso Masangane
|
METTA/LU | ||
 Amâncio Fortes
|
Liepāja | ||
| Daniils Ulimbaševs
|
Ventspils |
References
edit- ^ "Virsliga". soccerway. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
- ^ "Virsliga". soccerway. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
- ^ "1.Liga". soccerway. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
- ^ "1. Liga 2019: Venues". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ "Virslīga 2019". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ "Play-offs 1/2". soccerway. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ "Latvian First Division - Top scorers". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
External links
edit- Official website (in Latvian)
- Topscorers at RSSSF