LIVESTREAM Finland: Helsinki Roosters @ Porvoon Butchers, July 27, 17:30 CET (5:30 pm, 11:30 am EDT)

| American Football | 07/27/2023

The Porvoon Butchers (6-3) will play host to the surging Helsinki Roosters (4-4) Thursday, July 27 as Finland’s Maple League heads into the last month of the 2023 regular season.

This is the second meeting between the two teams. The second place Butchers took the first one six weeks ago 43-20. However, Helsinki is a solid fourth in the standings and is on a three game winning streak.

The Butchers have won five of their last six games including a 61-12 thrashing of the Helsinki Wolverines six days ago. Helsinki is coming off of three straight wins after whipping the United Newland Crusaders 49-7 a week ago and beating the Wasa Royals in back-to-back games, 43-28 and 55-27.

Porvoo’s veteran quarterback Brandon Gwinner leads the league in overall passing yardage having thrown for 2,340 yards in nine games. His favorite targets are wide receivers Kristian Natunen (718 yds/89.8 yds per game) and Mikko Seppänen (683 yds/75.9 yds per game) placing them 4th and 6th in the league. Another veteran is former Roosters running back Micky Kyei who has rushed for 408 yards in seven games but found the end zone 12 times.

Watch live. Helsinki Roosters @ Porvoo Butchers, July 27, 17:30 CET (5:30 pm, 11:30 am EDT)

The Butchers have bolstered their defense with the signing of former Indianapolis Colts and Washington State linebacker Brandon Wellington who will be used at nickleback for this game. The team also added Team France and La Courneuve Flash cornerback Jordy Adjetey. Both players will start in this game.

For Helsinki, quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos continues to have an excellent season and now tops the league in average yards per game (265.1) and has thrown for 2,121 yards and a league-best 22 touchdowns. Last week in the lopsided win over the Crusaders he threw for a season-high 371 yards. His main targets are Danny Kittner who despite only having played four games leads the league in receiving yards per game with 156.1. Sinodinos also has Johannes Jauhiainen (33/376 yds/5 TDs) and Santtu Vehkomäki (22/461 yds/5 TDs). Running backs Ville Hämäläinen (88/557 yds/6 TDs) and Yusufa Lehtinen (85/483 yds/5 TDs) are the leading ground gainers for the Roosters and will see plenty of action tonight.

Defensively, Helsinki’s front seven is anchored by Maple League sack leader William Lydle (35 tackles/6 sacks) along with the team’s second leading tackler Taavi Aronpää (32.5 tackles/2 sacks).

A win for the Butchers would solidify their hold on second place while a Helsinki victory would carry them perilously close to Porvoon in the standings with the coveted home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs at stake.

Watch live. Helsinki Roosters @ Porvoo Butchers, July 27, 17:30 CET (5:30 pm, 11:30 am EDT)

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