Before every game, we will do a short preview and share some of our thoughts, and also predictions. Starting this season, all 3 of us at SailorFanTalk will give you our predictions, and we will track these over the course of the year. 3 points for exact scoreline predicted correctly, 2 points for predicting the winner and margin of victory correctly (but not the exact scoreline), and 1 point for predicting the outcome correctly (win, lose or draw).
Both teams come into this game on the back of a damaging loss. The Eagles went down meekly to Tanjong Pagar United after claiming in this Instagram post that they were “mentality monsters”, while our very own Sailors suffered a harsh red card, but even so, put in a performance that couldn’t really give the fans something to be energised about. I think we all felt that being down to 10 men, we wish the Sailors would show a bit more fight – but we went down and looked very tame. For more on this, check out Zach’s piece yesterday, where he particularly examined the lead-up to the 2-0 goal which put the game beyond our reach, even before the half-time whistle sounded.
I don’t think there’s very much left for me to say in this piece, but here are a few talking points –
How Will We Line Up in Attack?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have heard by now that Kodai Tanaka has been ruled out for the season. Who starts in attack then? Will it be Shawal as a false 9? Maxime as a false 9? Haiqal Pashia brought into the side to accommodate this? Noone knows for sure how we’ll line up. There’s even the off-chance that Adam Swandi comes in to play a floating left-winger, so that Maxime can take the position up top.
Whatever combination we settle on, what is clear is that the Sailors are still supposed to be favourites against a Geylang side with a much smaller budget. Just take a look at the potential line-up we can field:
Zharfan
Hafiz Nor, Bill, Lionel, CVH
Hami, Hariss
Haiqal Pashia, Diego, Maxime
Shawal
The above is a very strong line-up still, and certainly has a good mix of ability and experience that will start as favourites against the Eagles. As such, I hope that we get a positive result tonight, and if we don’t, please let’s not use Kodai’s absence as an excuse.
Is Anu suspended? Who replaces him?
There are a few ways to replace Anu, who is suspended for 2 matches as a result of his straight red card.
One way is as shown in the line-up above, where Bill tucks into the middle, and Hafiz Nor or Arshad comes in at rightback. Super, our new signing, may also come in, though that’d be surprising unless he was already training with us prior to his unveiling.
Hariss may also drop back into defence, and that would then see either Rusyaidi Salime or Adam Swandi coming on. I would worry that the midfield may lack some bite if it is Adam Swandi + Hami Syahin, two creative types. I guess we’ll see what Coach Risto comes up with.
Geylang has not looked impressive so far
These may very well be famous last words, but Geylang have not looked impressive thus far. Their two wins came against Young Lions and Hougang United. Young Lions are Young Lions – you are expected to beat them. Hougang United led when Kiki Krajcek was on the field. Once Kiki went off, the initiative swung to Geylang, but even then, they did not create a consistent threat in front of goal. They had to rely on some uncharacteristically poor goalkeeping from Zaiful Nizam to parry the ball into his own net after a shot from range from Vincent Bezecourt.
That being said – we are coming off a 4-0 defeat, and Geylang had our number last season, performing well in every game they played against us.
Conclusion
Sailors should win this and I think if we are serious about our title ambitions, we have to win our games on our own patch, especially against Geylang.
Score Prediction
As mentioned above, this will be a continuing feature as the season goes on. Joseph, Ethan, and myself will predict the scores, and track our success in a table. Stay tuned to find out who is the prediction king!
3 points for exact scoreline predicted correctly, 2 points for predicting the winner and margin of victory correctly (but not the exact scoreline), and 1 point for predicting the outcome correctly (win, lose or draw).
Eddy’s prediction: Sailors 2 Geylang 1
Ethan’s prediction: Sailors 2 Geylang 1
Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 2 Geylang 0
We are a little pressed for time, so we will do the leaderboard sometime later!
Written by Eddy Hirono
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