Both teams come into this after what I would say is a negative result. For our Sailors, well you know, we gave up a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Geylang. For our opponents, well, they didn’t lose, and in the context of this season, a 1-1 draw against Young Lions isn’t that bad a result. However, after the game, TPU’s coach Noh Alam Shah went on camera to say that his team was “rubbish”. So – both teams head into this one on a bit of a downer. Let’s dive straight into the preview.
Chance to Win the First of Three Major Trophies
Amid the excitement surrounding our ACL2 run and all the controversy ignited by Sh**jah FC, I think the possibility of us achieving only our 2nd league title has sort of faded into semi-oblivion. But make no mistake about it – it is not just a big achievement, it is also a very important one.
In the past 2 seasons, while the Sailors had a bigger budget than all the other teams, one reason (or some may say “excuse”) for the Sailors failing to win the title was simply that Albirex Niigata (S) had an unfair advantage, being able to field more foreigners than any other team in the league. Well, in the first season without that being a factor, we then became the overwhelming favourites to win the title.
Make no mistake about it – I am pretty sure Coach Ranko would have been relieved of his duties had we not been on course to win the title. There were some early hiccups in the first part of the season, but after losses to BG Tampines and Albirex, we kept up a long unbeaten streak which was ended in our last game by Geylang. Along the way, BG Tampines lost their star striker Boris Kopitovic, and then inexplicably started losing / drawing random games.
Our title never really looked in doubt, until recently when we picked up a couple of draws and a defeat. All eyes were on Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday, to see if Balestier Khalsa could do us a favour. And they did – led by heroic performances across the park, aided by the superb Kodai Tanaka, and in the later stages of the game, Abdil Qaiyyim. The result was made even sweeter by the fact that BG Tampines played with a man up after Shah Shahiran made the most of minimal contact to get his opponent sent off. Shah had initially sparked off the whole incident, mind, by leaving his foot in a challenge and tripping his opponent. Unfortunately, the referee only penalised the retaliation, and did not give Shah a deserved yellow card for the part he had to play in this. But enough of that rant – it was a great performance by Balestier Khalsa.
So instead of heading into tomorrow’s game with a lot of pressure after seeing BG Tampines capitalise on our slip, we go into tomorrow’s game knowing that a win seals the title. A draw practically seals it, given our huge advantage on goal difference. But ideally, we get the win.
And it will be a massive moment. Let’s hope there will be a big turnout tomorrow at Jurong East Stadium to celebrate our 2nd ever title.
Tanjong Pagar’s Dreadful Form
Tanjong Pagar have won only 2 of their 13 games in 2025. And this is already improved from their form in the first half of the season, and before they signed a keeper reinforcement in the shape of Matt Silva.
In that time, they’ve also lost 4-1 to us twice, adding on to their 3-0 and 6-0 defeats to us earlier this season.
I don’t think there’s any need to analyse this game further – they are in very poor form, and have just been criticised publicly by their coach. They will want to bounce back, but unfortunately, I think they caught us at the wrong time. We, too, will be itching to bounce back after the terrible play against Geylang. We also have the added incentive of making sure that we win so that the top players can be rested for Wednesday’s game against Balestier Khalsa.
Conclusion
Just win please. And let’s celebrate winning the title at the home of Albirex. We’ve had some painful memories in that stadium – let’s make a happy one tomorrow.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Izwan Mahbud
Chris van Huizen, Hariss Harun, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Diogo Costa
Hami Syahin, Rui Pires
Maxime Lestienne, Shawal Anuar, Bart Ramselaar
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!
Eddy’s prediction: TPU 0 Sailors 5
Joseph’s prediction: TPU 0 Sailors 2
Written by Eddy Hirono
Picture Credit – Singapore Premier League
If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!
