# 2022 Latvian Higher League

The 2022 Latvian Higher League, known as the Optibet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st season of top-tier football in Latvia. The season began on 11 March 2022 and ended on 12 November 2022. RFS were the defending champions after winning the league the previous season.

## Teams

No teams were relegated at the end of the previous season. The league consists of 7 clubs from the previous season, joined by 3 teams from 1. līga - champions FK Auda, second place Tukums and third place SK Super Nova all were promoted.
2022 Virsliga competitors :
| Club | Seasons in Virsliga | 2021 position | Stadium | Capacity |
| BFC Daugavpils | 9 | 6th | Celtnieks Stadium | 1,980 |
| FK Auda | 1 | 1st in 1. līga | Audas stadions | 520 |
| FK Liepāja | 9 | 3rd | Daugava Stadium (Liepāja) | 4,022 |
| Metta/LU | 11 | 7th | Daugava Stadium (Riga) | 10,461 |
| Riga FC | 7 | 4th | Skonto Stadium | 8,087 |
| RFS | 7 | 1st | LNK Sporta Parks | 2,300 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | 11 | 5th | Slokas Stadium | 2,500 |
| SK Super Nova | 1 | 3rd in 1. līga | Olaines stadions | 2,500 |
| FK Tukums 2000 | 1 | 2nd in 1. līga | Tukuma pilsētas stadions | 1,000 |
| Valmiera FC | 5 | 2nd | Jānis Daliņš Stadium | 1,250 |

### Managers

| Team | Coach | Appointed | In Charge |
| FK Auda | Tomislav Stipić | 1 February 2022 | 2 years, 8 months |
| Daugavpils | Andrejs Kaļiņins | 4 January 2021 | 3 years, 9 months |
| Liepāja | Tamaz Pertia | 3 June 2022 | 2 years, 4 months |
| Metta/LU | Andris Riherts | 27 June 2022 | 2 years, 3 months |
| Riga | Sandro Perković | 7 June 2022 | 2 years, 4 months |
| RFS | Viktors Morozs | 13 December 2019 | 4 years, 9 months |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | Fabiano Flora | 15 May 2022 | 2 years, 4 months |
| SK Super Nova | Aleksandrs Koliņko | 29 June 2022 | 2 years, 3 months |
| Tukums 2000 | Kristaps Dišlers | 25 January 2021 | 3 years, 8 months |
| Valmiera FC | Jurģis Kalns | 17 February 2022 | 2 years, 7 months |

#### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Riga | Sashko Poposki (caretaker) | end of contract | 30 November 2021 | Thorsten Fink | 4 January 2022 |
| FK Auda | Sergejs Kožans | mutual agreement | 1 February 2022 | Tomislav Stipić | 1 February 2022 |
| Liepāja | Nebojša Vignjević | signed with Honvéd | 31 January 2022 | Kirill Alshevsky | 9 February 2022 |
| Valmiera FC | Tamaz Pertia | mutual agreement | 14 February 2022 | Jurģis Kalns | 17 February 2022 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | Przemyslaw Lagozny | mutual agreement | 15 May 2022 | Fabiano Flora | 15 May 2022 |
| Riga | Thorsten Fink | mutual agreement | 16 May 2022 | Kristaps Blanks (caretaker) | 16 May 2022 |
| Liepāja | Kirill Alshevsky | mutual agreement | 3 June 2022 | Tamaz Pertia | 3 June 2022 |
| SK Super Nova | Andrejs Lapsa | mutual agreement | 4 June 2022 | Igors Korabļovs (caretaker) | 4 June 2022 |
| Riga | Kristaps Blanks (caretaker) | found new coach | 7 June 2022 | Sandro Perković | 7 June 2022 |
| Metta/LU | Andrejs Gluščuks | mutual agreement | 22 June 2022 | Andris Riherts | 27 June 2022 |
| SK Super Nova | Igors Korabļovs (caretaker) | found new coach | 29 June 2022 | Aleksandrs Koliņko | 29 June 2022 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Valmiera (C) | 36 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 101 | 25 | +76 | 85 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Riga | 36 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 68 | 23 | +45 | 81 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | RFS | 36 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 83 | 32 | +51 | 76 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Liepāja | 36 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 72 | 42 | +30 | 70 | |
| 5 | Auda | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 51 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Tukums 2000 | 36 | 11 | 5 | 20 | 38 | 69 | −31 | 38 | |
| 7 | Daugavpils | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 30 | 67 | −37 | 34 | |
| 8 | Spartaks Jūrmala (R) | 36 | 9 | 4 | 23 | 37 | 75 | −38 | 31 | Relegation to the Latvian First League |
| 9 | Metta (O) | 36 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 41 | 86 | −45 | 22 | Qualification for the Latvian Higher League play-off |
| 10 | Super Nova | 36 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 24 | 81 | −57 | 20 | |
* ↑ Auda qualified for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round by winning the 2022 Latvian Football Cup.
* ↑ Spartaks Jūrmala were relegated after being refused a Latvian Higher League license; Super Nova were reprieved from relegation.

## Fixtures and results
### Rounds 1–18

Rounds 1–18 :
| Home \ Away | AUD | DAU | LIE | MLU | RIG | RFS | SPJ | SNO | TUK | VAL |
| FK Auda | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Daugavpils | 1–2 | | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Liepāja | 1–1 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Metta | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–5 | | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 |
| Riga | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| RFS | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 0–4 | 2–3 | | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| SK Super Nova | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–3 | | 0–1 | 1–5 |
| Tukums 2000 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–10 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 0–3 |
| Valmiera | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |

### Rounds 19–36

Rounds 19–36 :
| Home \ Away | AUD | DAU | LIE | MLU | RIG | RFS | SPJ | SNO | TUK | VAL |
| FK Auda | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Daugavpils | 0–1 | | 2–3 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Liepāja | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 5–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–2 |
| Metta | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 |
| Riga | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 |
| RFS | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–6 |
| SK Super Nova | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | | 2–1 | 1–6 |
| Tukums 2000 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 1–1 |
| Valmiera | 2–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 7–0 | 6–1 | |

## Statistics
### Top goalscorers

    As of 12 November 2022
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Raimonds Krollis | Valmiera | 24 |
| 2 | Andrej Ilić | RFS | 16 |
| 3 | Camilo Mena | Valmiera | 14 |
| 4 | Luiz Hilario | Liepāja | 13 |
| 5 | Djibril Gueye | Valmiera | 12 |
| 6 | Emerson Deocleciano | RFS | 11 |
| 6 | Marcelo Torres | Riga | 11 |
| 8 | Valerijs Lizunovs | Daugavpils | 10 |
| 8 | Bruno Melnis | Metta | 10 |
| 8 | Deniss Rakels | RFS | 10 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Camilo Mena | Valmiera FC | Spartaks Jūrmala | 4–1 (H) | 18 March 2022 |
| Lucas Villela | FK Liepāja | BFC Daugavpils | 4–0 (A) | 14 May 2022 |
| Brice Tutu | FK Auda | Spartaks Jūrmala | 5–0 (H) | 17 June 2022 |
Notes (H) – Home team (A) – Away team