2018 Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League 2018
Season information
Winners	Riga
Relegated	Valmiera Glass ViA
Domestic cup winners
Champions League	Riga
Europa League	Ventspils RFS Liepāja
Season statistics
Matches played	112
Goals scored	315
← 2017	2019 →

The 2018 Latvian Higher League was the 27th season of top-tier football in Latvia. Spartaks Jūrmala were the defending champions, having won their second title in the previous season.

Teams

At the end of the 2017 season, Babīte were excluded from the league due to match-fixing. This resulted in METTA/LU ending up as the bottom-placed team. They were sent to the relegation playoffs against FK Progress/AFA Olaine. METTA/LU won, keeping them in the Latvian Higher League.

Babīte were replaced by the champions of the 2017 Latvian First League, Valmieras FK.

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Valmieras	Valmiera	J. Daliņa stadions	2,000
Jelgava	Jelgava	Olympic Sports Center of Zemgale	1,560
Liepāja	Liepāja	Daugava Stadium	5,008
Metta/LU	Riga	Hanzas vidusskolas laukums	2,000
RFS	Riga	Stadions Arkādija	1,000
Riga	Riga	Skonto Stadium	8,207
Spartaks Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	2,800
Ventspils	Ventspils	Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions	3,044

Source: Scoresway

Kits manufacturer and sponsors

Club	Kit manufacturer	Sponsor
FK Jelgava	Nike	Igate
FK Liepāja	Adidas	Mogo
FS Metta/LU	Nike
Riga FC	Jako
Rīgas Futbola skola	Nike	LNK Group
FK Spartaks Jūrmala	Nike	Hanseatisches Fußball Kontor
FK Ventspils	Adidas	VK Tranzīts
Valmiera Glass ViA	Nike	Valmiera Glass

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Riga  (C)	28	20	4	4	45	16	+29	64	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Ventspils	28	18	6	4	54	22	+32	60	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3	RFS	28	18	1	9	57	23	+34	55
4	Liepāja	28	15	6	7	46	25	+21	51
5	Spartaks Jūrmala	28	12	6	10	48	37	+11	42
6	Jelgava	28	6	3	19	19	48	−29	21
7	METTA/LU  (O)	28	5	4	19	24	52	−28	19	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
8	Valmiera Glass ViA  (R)	28	2	2	24	22	92	−70	8	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Relegation play-offs

The seventh-placed team from the 2018 Higher League faced the runners-up of the 2018 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off. The winner, METTA/LU, earned the right to participate in the 2019 Higher League.

1st leg 14 November 2018	METTA/LU	7–2	SK Super Nova

2nd leg 17 November 2018	SK Super Nova	0–3 (2–10 agg.)	METTA/LU

Top scorers

As of 13 November 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Darko Lemajić	Riga	15
2	Maksym Marusych	RFS	14
3	Aleksejs Višņakovs	Spartaks Jūrmala	13
	Adeleke Akinyemi	Ventspils	13
	Tosin Aiyegun	Ventspils	13
4	Ģirts Karlsons	Liepāja	10
5	Jānis Ikaunieks	Liepāja	9
6	Roberts Uldriķis	RFS	7
	Tamirlan Dzhamalutdinov	METTA/LU	7

External links

• Official website (Latvian)