After a hard-fought 2-0 victory on Thursday, rotation is gonna be the name of the game this weekend as we take on Balestier Khalsa, one of the most entertaining sides in the league. They are in 4th place, and come into this game unbeaten in 6, winning and drawing 3 each. On paper this is a going to be a difficult game, so let’s dive straight into some pre-match thoughts.
Attacking Prowess
It is no secret that Balestier don’t really have trouble scoring goals. With 46 goals scored, they have the 3rd-best offensive record in the league, second only to Geylang’s 52 and Sailors’ 49. Kodai Tanaka leads the way for them with 15 goals, but as you can probably tell, the goals are well spread out. Ismail Sassi has 12 goals, Ignatius Ang has 5, Riku Fukashiro has 4, and Alen Kozar has 4.
This is a team that has multiple routes to goal, unlike Geylang, where if you stop Tomoyuki Doi, you probably shut them down entirely. This difference with Geylang is especially stark when you consider that in the last few games, Kodai Tanaka has struggled to find the net.
In the last 3 games where Balestier have plundered a total of 12 goals, Kodai does not have a single goal to his name. However, in those games, he has 4 assists, and has been part of a free-flowing attack. I am sure he wants to be back on the scoresheet soon, but till that happens, at least he will feel like he’s contributing. His 4 assists takes his season total to 8 assists, which is very impressive considering he is the striker and is expected to bang in the goals.
If you watch Balestier games you will notice also that even though he is the main striker, he has no qualms dropping out to the wings in order to receive the passes and help to stretch the play, and eventually cross the ball in. This shows he’s truly a team player and is willing to do whatever is necessary for the team to win. We would do well not to over-commit to merely take care of Kodai. He is well capable of creating for his teammates too.
No Madhu, Welcome Back Tajeli
In the previous match against DPMM, Madhu rather harshly saw red for an elbow to the DPMM opponent’s face. Bad news for him, but great news for us.
Not only is Madhu an integral part of their defence, he also has scored once and assisted 5 times this season. For context, Alen Kozar has 4, and Riku Fukashiro has 6, so he is right smack in between.
He also has that ability to put shivers down the spines of many a supporter whenever he lines up for a long throw.
Tajeli is eligible to play this game because he has already served out his suspension for a violent attack on an opponent two months ago. Will he come straight in? Will Coach de Roo continue to punish him for his ill behaviour? Whatever it is and whoever it is that starts in the middle, the defence will not be as good as it was before, and we have to capitalise on this unfamiliarity.
How to Rotate?
I am sure right now, Anu will be kicking himself, wondering why he got himself sent off so unnecessarily last week. Maybe it’s the curse of Jurong East – bad things always happen to Anu there.
As it stands, he is not available for us for a number of games, and it is a crucial absence particularly because Rui Pires also seems to have a hand injury. He was spotted at JBS having his hand wrapped up in a bandage of sorts, and while it doesnt’ look too serious, the fact that he didn’t play any part in the wiin against Zhejiang, and the quick turnaround makes us wonder about his injury status going into this game.
That leaves Hariss and Hami in the middle, because Adam Swandi is also going through some health scare of his own. We are not privy to information about the players the way that the coaching staff do, so we can only guess that it might be too soon for Adam Swandi to help out also.
Of course, there is soome worry. Should Hariss or Hami be overplayed, then they might put themselves at risk of injury, and we really cannot afford to lose any midfielders.
Conclusion
A short one today because of the rushed schedule – SailorFanTalk needs squad rotation too haha.
An important game in a packed schedule for us – the one thing I would say about our opponents is they don’t like to sit back and hold everyone behind the ball, so perhaps we will have space to thrive on in the counter-attack.
That may lead to goals for us. Hopefully it plays out that way.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Izwan Mahbud
Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Obren Kljajic
Rui Pires, Bart Ramselaar, Hami Syahin
Abdul Rasaq, Shawal Anuar, Song Ui-Young
Score Prediction
Joseph and I 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 3 Balestier Khalsa 1
Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 2 Balestier Khalsa 0
Written by Eddy Hirono
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