**Ilves are primed to punish a Mariehamn side in freefall** — the hosts own the head-to-head script and have momentum at home, while their visitors are winless in five and leaking goals. 🔥

Ilves bounced back with a thumping of Stjarnan at Tammela but were stung by back-to-back away defeats before that. Mariehamn, though, are properly struggling: one draw in their last five tells you everything about a team desperately short of answers. This should be a mismatch.

Key storylines:

- **Ilves' home fortress** — five wins in ten H2H clashes at this ground give them a serious edge against a side that shipped three away
- Missing **J. Pikkarainen** (cruciate ligament) is a blow to the XI, but depth up front is covered by **A. A. Akinyemi** and **H. Coulibaly**
- **Mariehamn's attacking drought** — **W. Nuñez** and co. haven't scored twice in the same match this run; they'll need a perfect storm

Expected lineups:

- **Ilves**: F. Krkalić, M. Rale, S. Väisänen, T. Miettunen, V. Kumpu, O. Multala, A. Popovitch, J. Kilo
- **IFK Mariehamn**: K. Lund, A. Soiniemi, J. Nissinen, N. Nurmi, T. Koivisto, A. Huttunen, A. Stroud, L. Andersson

Prediction:

**Ilves 2–0 IFK Mariehamn**

Ilves' home record and Mariehamn's fragility make the hosts a clear lean. 📍