Finishing top means we get to avoid BG Tampines in the semi-final of the Cup, but frankly I don’t think that will be the biggest concern to Coach Ranko. If you want to win the Cup, you’ll have to beat the best teams anyway. The semi-finalists have already been confirmed last night – with BG Tampines and DPMM from Group B, and BG Pathum and our Sailors from Group A. What’s gonna pan out tonight? Let’s dive right into the preview.
B-Team Pathum
And no, I am not referring to Tampines Rovers. [wink]
I am referring to BG Pathum playing last night, and thus logically it’s safe to assume they will be bringing their B team to Singapore.
To make it even worse for them, they have a huge clash with Buriram in the Shopee Cup, and will probably want to rest some players for that match too. I think we can probably expect a lineup featuring youth players and second-stringers. If you have a BG Pathum kit in your wardrobe, you might want to bring it along – they’ll probably play you too if any of their starting 11 get tired or injured.
Will We Rotate?
I think we will play a pretty strong lineup. We’ve already rested our NT players in the last game, and our next game is not until next Sunday against Young Lions.
Which is a bit of a pity if you ask me. This has been a very long season, and the excitement generated by our domestic competitions cannot compare to the excitement generated by the continental competitions. Don’t take it from me, take it from the attendance numbers. While the Sydney game has already sold out 80% of the home section (get your tickets if you haven’t), attendance for the past few Cup games has been dismal. It would be nice if things can be spiced up a little and supporters get to watch players who don’t usually get gametime.
Last match for example, I think we all were excited to see what Nathan Mao would be able to do given that he was starting. When he went through on goal after a sublime pass from Bart Ramselaar split the defence, I think the whole crowd was waiting to see the net bulge, and it would have been a proud moment for the youngster. These are moments we want to see more of. Perhaps it’s speaking from a position of privilege, where we’re so used to seeing our team win, we want to see how the next generation will fare. Could Rui Pires’s stint at right centre-back have been cut short by 15min or so to allow us a glimpse of a promising centre-back from the academy? Could there have been 10-15 minute cameos for other talents from the U21 team that looks set to win the U21 championship?
Let’s see what kind of team we get tomorrow – considering we really don’t need to win this, I hope we get to see more game time for our fringe players.
Conclusion
It has been a very short preview, because there really is nothing much to say for a game of such little consequence. Let’s see how it goes, and let’s hope for a good game and no injuries!
I think we will win because we will play a strong team and they will play their janitor.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
My predicted line-up
Zharfan Rohaizad
Akram Azman, Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Diogo Costa
Rui Pires, Song Ui-Young
Shawal Anuar, Lennart Thy, 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: BG Pathum 0 Sailors 3
Joseph’s prediction: BG Pathum 1 Sailors 2
Written by Eddy Hirono
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