# 2020 Meistriliiga

The 2020 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs. The season began on 6 March 2020, but was suspended after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league continued on 19 May 2020. The season concluded on 6 December, with the last match between Flora and FCI Levadia cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in both teams. The defending champions Flora successfully defended their title, winning second title in a row and their 13th in total.

## Teams

Ten teams competed in the league, nine sides from the 2019 season and 2019 Esiliiga champions TJK Legion. Legion made their debut in the top tier after consecutive promotions from fourth tier in three seasons. Maardu Linnameeskond were relegated at the end of the 2019 season after finishing in the bottom of the table. Kuressaare retained their Meistriliiga spot after winning a relegation play-off against Esiliiga runners-up Vaprus.

### Venues

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FCI Levadia | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,336 |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,336 |
| Kuressaare | Kuressaare | Kuressaare linnastaadion | 1,000 |
| TJK Legion | Tallinn | Kadriorg Stadium | 5,000 |
| Narva Trans | Narva | Narva Kreenholm Stadium | 1,065 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Tallinn | Hiiu Stadium | 650 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | Paide linnastaadion | 268 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Tallinn | Kadriorg Stadium | 5,000 |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tartu Tamme Stadium | 1,500 |
| Tulevik | Viljandi | Viljandi linnastaadion | 1,084 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| FCI Levadia | Vladimir Vassiljev | Dmitri Kruglov | Adidas | Viimsi Keevitus |
| Flora | Jürgen Henn | Konstantin Vassiljev | Nike | Tele2 |
| Kuressaare | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | Märten Pajunurm | Nike | |
| TJK Legion | Denis Belov | Denis Vnukov | Uhlsport | |
| Narva Trans | Oleg Kurotškin | Roman Nesterovski | Nike | Sportland |
| Nõmme Kalju | Marko Kristal | Igor Subbotin | Adidas | Paf |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Andre Frolov | Nike | Verston |
| Tallinna Kalev | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | Marek Kaljumäe | Macron | Coolbet |
| Tammeka | Kaido Koppel | Tauno Tekko | Nike | Metec |
| Tulevik | Sander Post | Kaimar Saag | Joma | Espak |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| FCI Levadia | Vladimir Vassiljev | Caretaker spell over | 11 November 2019 | Pre-season | Martin Reim | 11 November 2019 |
| Narva Trans | Oleg Kurotškin | Caretaker spell over | 15 November 2019 | Pre-season | Cenk Özcan | 15 November 2019 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | End of contract | 28 November 2019 | Pre-season | Marko Kristal | 2 December 2019 |
| Kuressaare | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | End of contract | 16 December 2019 | Pre-season | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | 16 December 2019 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Aleksandr Dmitrijev | Mutual consent | 18 March 2020 | 10th | Liivo Leetma | 18 March 2020 |
| Narva Trans | Cenk Özcan | Mutual consent | 19 June 2010 | 10th | Oleg Kurotškin | 19 June 2010 |
| Levadia | Martin Reim | Resigned | 10 July 2020 | 3rd | Vladimir Vassiljev | 10 July 2020 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Liivo Leetma | Sacked | 31 August 2020 | 10th | Dmitrijs Kalašnikovs | 31 August 2020 |

## Format changes

Due to the long pause, the season was shortened. Instead of the regular format of each team playing each of the other teams four times, the league were to be split after the third playthrough into two sections of top 6 and bottom 4, with each team playing each other in that section.
On 7 November, due to the second wave of COVID-19, the season was shortened even more with the league split into three sections after the 27th round – top 4, 5th & 6th, and bottom 4, with each team playing each other in that section.
On 11 December the season's last match between Flora and FCI Levadia was cancelled.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Flora (C) | 29 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 76 | 17 | +59 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Paide Linnameeskond | 30 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 80 | 43 | +37 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | FCI Levadia | 29 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Nõmme Kalju | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 52 | 31 | +21 | 49 | |
| 5 | Tammeka | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 32 | |
| 6 | Tulevik | 28 | 9 | 4 | 15 | 30 | 46 | −16 | 31 | |
| 7 | TJK Legion | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 44 | −18 | 31 | |
| 8 | Narva Trans | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 31 | 49 | −18 | 25 | |
| 9 | Kuressaare (O) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 63 | −35 | 24 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Tallinna Kalev (R) | 30 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 20 | 68 | −48 | 20 | Relegation to the Esiliiga |
* ↑ FCI Levadia qualified for the Europa Conference League as the other finalist of the 2020–21 Estonian Cup, Flora, has already qualified to the UEFA Champions League

### Relegation play-offs

At season's end Kuressaare, the ninth place club, participated in a two-legged play-off with the runners-up (of independent teams) of the 2020 Esiliiga, Maardu Linnameeskond, for the spot in 2021 Meistriliiga.
    Kuressaare won 9–5 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2021 season.

## Fixtures and results

A total of four rounds was played. In the first three rounds teams played each other three times. In the fourth round the league was split into 3 groups – top 4, 5th and 6th, and bottom 4, where they played each team in their group one more time.

### Rounds 1–18

| Home \ Away | FLO | PAI | LEV | NÕM | TAM | TUL | LEG | TRA | KUR | KLV |
| Flora | — | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 1–3 | — | 4–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| FCI Levadia | 1–3 | 4–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Nõmme Kalju | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Tammeka | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Tulevik | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–6 | 2–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| TJK Legion | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Narva Trans | 2–3 | 1–0 | 4–4 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Kuressaare | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | — | 2–2 |
| Tallinna Kalev | 0–3 | 1–8 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — |

### Rounds 19–27

| Home \ Away | FLO | PAI | LEV | NÕM | TAM | TUL | LEG | TRA | KUR | KLV |
| Flora | — | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — |
| Paide Linnameeskond | — | — | 1–0 | — | 3–1 | — | — | 4–2 | 6–2 | 4–1 |
| FCI Levadia | 0–2 | — | — | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | — | — | — | 3–0 |
| Nõmme Kalju | — | 1–3 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | — |
| Tammeka | 0–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | 0–0 | 4–2 | — |
| Tulevik | — | 1–4 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | — |
| TJK Legion | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | — | — | 2–1 | — | 2–0 |
| Narva Trans | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — |
| Kuressaare | 0–4 | — | 1–5 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | 0–1 |
| Tallinna Kalev | 1–4 | — | — | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 4–1 | — | — |

### Top four rounds 28–30

| Home \ Away | FLO | LEV | NÕM | PAI |
| Flora | — | Cancelled | — | — |
| FCI Levadia | — | — | — | 2–2 |
| Nõmme Kalju | 0–3 | 0–2 | — | — |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 1–7 | — | 7–4 | — |

### Fifth & sixth round 28

| Home \ Away | TAM | TUL |
| Tammeka | — | 3–3 |
| Tulevik | — | — |

### Bottom four rounds 28–30

| Home \ Away | KUR | LEG | TRA | KLV |
| Kuressaare | — | — | 0–3 | — |
| TJK Legion | 0–1 | — | — | — |
| Narva Trans | — | 1–3 | — | 1–1 |
| Tallinna Kalev | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Rauno Sappinen | Flora | 26 |
| 2 | Edrisa Lubega | Paide Linnameeskond | 14 |
| 3 | Tristan Koskor | Tammeka | 12 |
| 4 | Marcelin Gando | FCI Levadia | 11 |
| 5 | Henri Anier | Paide Linnameeskond | 10 |
| 5 | Deabeas Owusu Sekyere | Paide Linnameeskond | 10 |
| 5 | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora | 10 |
| 8 | Vladyslav Khomutov | Nõmme Kalju | 9 |
| 8 | Yuriy Kolomoyets | FCI Levadia | 9 |
| 8 | Siim Luts | Paide Linnameeskond | 9 |
| 8 | Pavel Marin | Tulevik | 9 |
| 8 | Edgar Tur | Paide Linnameeskond | 9 |
| 8 | Aleksandr Volkov | Nõmme Kalju | 9 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Joseph Saliste | Paide Linnameeskond | Tallinna Kalev | 8–1 (A) | 7 March 2020 |
| Kaspar Paur | Nõmme Kalju | Tulevik | 6–0 (A) | 31 May 2020 |
| Edgar Tur | Paide Linnameeskond | Kuressaare | 6–2 (H) | 1 November 2020 |
| Rauno Sappinen | Flora | Paide Linnameeskond | 7–1 (A) | 29 November 2020 |

### Average attendance

Most games were held before empty stands due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Different teams played a different amount of home games before the lockdown.
| Club | Average attendance |
| Tallinna FC Flora | 698 |
| Tartu JK Tammeka | 402 |
| Viljandi JK Tulevik | 400 |
| FCI Levadia | 383 |
| Nõmme Kalju FC | 326 |
| JK Narva Trans | 285 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 257 |
| JK Tallinna Kalev | 241 |
| FC Kuressaare | 220 |
| Tallinna JK Legion | 163 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| May | Martin Reim | Levadia | Pedro Victor | Nõmme Kalju |
| June | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Pavel Marin | Tulevik |
| July | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Amir Natkho | Nõmme Kalju |
| August | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond | Märten Kuusk | Flora |
| September | Denis Belov | Legion | Sergei Mošnikov | Paide Linnameeskond |
| October | Kaido Koppel | Tammeka | Brent Lepistu | FCI Levadia |

## Team of the season

Source:
| Position | Player | Club | Previous Appearances |
| GK | Matvei Igonen | Flora | 2019, 2016 |
| DF | Michael Lilander | Flora | none |
| DF | Karl Mööl | Paide | 2019, 2017 |
| DF | Märten Kuusk | Flora | 2019 |
| DF | Muhammed Sanneh | Paide | none |
| MF | Sergei Mošnikov | Paide | 2016, 2014, 2013, 2011 |
| MF | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora | 2019, 2006 |
| MF | Vladislav Kreida | Flora | 2019 |
| MF | Pavel Marin | Tulevik | none |
| FW | Rauno Sappinen | Flora | 2017, 2015 |
| FW | Henri Anier | Paide | none |

## Player transfers

* Winter 2019–20 – before the season