The 2021 Latvian Higher League, known as the Optibet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is the 30th season of top-tier football in Latvia. The season began on 13 March 2021 and ended 6 November 2021.[1] RFS are the league champions and earned a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League while the second, third and fourth-placed clubs earned a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League.[2]
| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 March – 6 November |
| Champions | RFS |
| Champions League | RFS |
| Conference League | Valmiera, Liepāja, Riga |
| Matches played | 109 |
| Goals scored | 335 (3.07 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Stefan Milošević (13 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Riga 6–1 Spartaks Jūrmala (3 April 2021) RFS 5–0 Noah Jurmala (21 June 2021) |
| Biggest away win | Noah Jurmala 0–7 Riga (20 May 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Riga 6–1 Spartaks Jūrmala (3 April 2021) Ventspils 5–2 Metta/LU (1 May 2021) Noah Jurmala 0–7 Riga (20 May 2021) Spartaks Jūrmala 5–2 Noah Jurmala (17 June 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 10 matches RFS |
| Longest unbeaten run | 14 matches RFS |
| Longest winless run | 8 matches Metta/LU Noah Jurmala |
| Longest losing run | 7 matches Noah Jurmala |
← 2020 2022 →
All statistics correct as of 6 November 2021. | |
Riga were the defending champions after winning the league for a third consecutive season.[3]
Teams
editThe league consists of 8 clubs from the previous season, joined by Noah Jurmala as champions of the 2020 Latvian First League. Tukums (relegated after one year in the top flight) were relegated after finishing last in the previous season and declined to apply for a license.[4] Meanwhile, Jelgava did not receive a licence and will not take part in this year's tournament.[5]
On 19 June 2021, Ventspils withdrew from the remainder of the season and was dissloved later on.[6]
On 23 July 2021, Noah Jurmala withdrew from the league,[7] remaining matches were 3–0 forfeits.
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RFS (C) | 28 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 65 | 22 | +43 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Valmiera | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 19 | +35 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Liepāja | 28 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 47 | 26 | +21 | 51 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Riga | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 54 | 26 | +28 | 50 | |
| 5 | Spartaks Jūrmala | 28 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 35 | |
| 6 | Daugavpils | 28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 37 | 53 | −16 | 32 | |
| 7 | Metta | 28 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 33 | 55 | −22 | 20 | |
| 8 | Noah Jurmala | 28 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 8 | 96 | −88 | 3 | Withdrew from league |
| 9 | Ventspils | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.
(C) Champions
Fixtures and results
editRounds 1–18
editRounds 19–36
editStatistics
editTop goalscorers
edit- As of 24 August 2021[8]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Stefan Milošević
|
Riga | 13 |
| 2 |  Ibrahima Sow
|
Valmiera | 10 |
| 3 |  Yunusa Muritala
|
Metta/LU Riga |
9 |
 Leonel Wamba
|
Spartaks Jūrmala | ||
| 5 |  Raimonds Krollis
|
Valmiera | 8 |
| 6 |  Mikael Soisalo
|
Riga | 7 |
| 7 | Richard Friday
|
Spartaks Jūrmala | 6 |
| Lūkass Vapne
|
Metta/LU | ||
| 9 | Marks Kurtišs
|
Ventspils | 5 |
 Darko Lemajić
|
RFS | ||
 Dodô
|
Liepāja | ||
| Djibril Guèye
|
Valmiera | ||
 Žiga Lipušček
|
RFS | ||
| Raivis Ķiršs
|
Daugavpils | ||
 Tomislav Šarić
|
RFS |
References
edit- ^ "Virsliga". soccerway. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ "UEL2 Access List 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ "Virsliga". soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ "Virslīgas licences iegūšanas procesu sāk 11 futbola klubi, «Noah Jūrmala» jārisina parādu lietas".
- ^ "Pēdējā brīdī izjucis darījums liedz FK «Jelgava» turpināt dalību futbola virslīgā".
- ^ "FK "Ventspils" atsauc dalību no Virslīgas čempionāta". optibetvirsliga.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
- ^ "Noah Jurmala aptur dalību Virslīgas čempionātā". optibetvirsliga.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Flashscore