en 2021 Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League
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.

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]

Riga were the defending champions after winning the league for a third consecutive season.^[3]

Teams

The 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

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	Withdrew from league

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.
(C) Champions

Fixtures and results

Rounds 1–18

Rounds 1–18
Home \ Away	DAU	LIE	MLU	NOA	RIG	RFS	SPJ	VAL
Daugavpils		0–1	3–2	1–2	1–1	0–3	2–1	1–2
Liepāja	0–0		4–1	3–0	0–2	1–2	1–2	1–2
Metta/LU	0–1	0–3		7–0	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1
Noah Jurmala	1–4	0–5	0–3		0–7	0–3	0–5	0–3
Riga	4–0	4–1	3–0	1–0		0–3	6–1	1–0
RFS	2–1	4–0	3–0	4–2	3–1		1–0	2–3
Spartaks Jūrmala	2–0	1–2	1–0	5–2	2–3	0–1		1–0
Valmiera	2–2	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	0–1	2–0
Ventspils

Source: soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 19–36

Rounds 19–36
Home \ Away	DAU	LIE	MLU	NOA	RIG	RFS	SPJ	VAL
Daugavpils		1–1	3–1	3–0	3–0	0–2	3–0	1–5
Liepāja	3–1		2–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	2–1
Metta/LU	2–2	0–3		3–0	0–1	2–5	0–3	0–4
Noah Jurmala	0–3	0–3	0–3		0–3	0–3	0–3	0–3
Riga	7–1	0–1	1–1	2–1		1–1	2–1	0–0
RFS	2–0	2–1	4–1	5–0	0–0		1–1	1–2
Spartaks Jūrmala	3–0	0–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–2		1–4
Valmiera	4–0	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–1
Ventspils

Source: soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

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
3	Leonel Wamba	Spartaks Jūrmala	9
5	Raimonds Krollis	Valmiera	8
6	Mikael Soisalo	Riga	7
7	Richard Friday	Spartaks Jūrmala	6
7	Lūkass Vapne	Metta/LU	6
9	Marks Kurtišs	Ventspils	5
	Darko Lemajić	RFS
	Dodô	Liepāja
	Djibril Guèye	Valmiera
	Žiga Lipušček	RFS
	Raivis Ķiršs	Daugavpils
	Tomislav Šarić	RFS

References

^ "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

External links

Official website

[1] "Virsliga". soccerway. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

[2] "UEL2 Access List 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

[3] "Virsliga". soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

[4] "Virslīgas licences iegūšanas procesu sāk 11 futbola klubi, «Noah Jūrmala» jārisina parādu lietas".

[5] "Pēdējā brīdī izjucis darījums liedz FK «Jelgava» turpināt dalību futbola virslīgā".

[6] "FK "Ventspils" atsauc dalību no Virslīgas čempionāta". optibetvirsliga.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.

[7] "Noah Jurmala aptur dalību Virslīgas čempionātā". optibetvirsliga.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.

[8] Flashscore

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2021 Latvian Higher League