While they do not have the latin flair of their rivals JDT, Selangor has traditionally been a powerhouse of Malaysian Football. However, with their struggles on and off the pitch, there may not be a better time to take on the Red Giants this season.
Crunching The Numbers
Selangor have not started their season well, with a strong opening to the Shopee Cup being the only bright spot in their campaign so far, after holding Buriram to a 1-1 draw away and beating Tampines 4-2 at home. In the ACL2, Selangor fell to an opening day loss to Bangkok United at home, while 2 wins from 5 in the Malaysian Super League leaves them squarely in mid-table.
Sailors, on the other hand, are top of the SPL table with 3 wins from 3 and rescued a 1-1 draw late on away to Persib on ACL2 Matchday 1 (as well as a 3-1 loss against an ineligible JDT lineup in the Shopee Cup).
However, the underlying numbers of the respective league seasons so far suggest that this match will be a very close affair. The two clubs are currently only separated by 0.1 points on the Opta Club Rankings with Sailors on 66.7 and Selangor on 66.6. Both teams have also had no problems scoring goals so far, with Selangor’s attack, spearheaded by former Buriram forward Chrigor Moraes, creating 2.21 xG and scoring 1.8 goals per game, while Sailors averaged 1.94 xG (….and 4.67 goals hahaha) per game.
Nothing separating the 2 sides in the Opta Club Rankings
The glaring weakness for Selangor though, seems to lie in their defence. They have conceded 1.63xG and 1.6 goals per game on average in the league so far, vs Sailors who have conceded 0.50xG (and 0.33 goals) per game. Selangor have also averaged lower possession, passes and shots than their opponents in the MSL this season.
A Club in Crisis?
After a bad start to the season, Selangor sacked their coach Katsuhito Kinoshi last week after less than a year on the job, despite guiding the team to Silverware last season. As a result, several former players and analysts have stepped forward criticizing the Selangor management for this questionable decision.
Selangor U23 head coach Christophe Gamel has taken on the role of interim head coach while the club looks for a permanent replacement, and as Selangor had no league game last weekend presumably due to the Sultan of Selangor Cup, the ACL2 game against Sailors represents Gamel’s first competitive game in charge.
The Quicktime TeamViewer
As usual, I’ll leave this section to Joseph Chin who takes us through the key figures in this Selangor side
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Man on the Hot Seat – Christophe Gamel is typical of the modern day managers with undistinguished senior careers to boast of. With exposure at various levels of youth and women’s football (including a stint at the PSG Women’s Team), the journeyman manager has earned diverse cultural exposure and passport stamps having coached in Hungary, Fiji, Algeria, Belgium, Vietnam and even Malaysia with Sri Pahang under the legendary Dollah Salleh.
Having been part of the Selangor hierarchy soon after his assistant manager role at MacArthur, the former reserve team boss will look to stabilize the ship after the sacking of their previous manager, and a decent tenure as one of the better Fiji managers of the modern era would have served the Frenchman in good stead.
As mentioned previously, both Mohammad Abdulnadi and Noor al-Rawabdeh bring big game experience and World Cup qualification as mainstays for both Selangor and the Jordanian National Team. But having played a 532 last matchday against Bangkok United, a good few members of their team cannot be ruled out as threats in the ACL Two
GK: While half-Malaysian Englishman Samuel Somerville makes for a good backup in goal, the goalkeeping duties seem to be shared unequally between Kalamullah al-Hafiz and Sikh Izhan, with the former being more consistently used in goal. Azim al-Amin has been capped at youth level so the competition for the one slot seems to be intensified.
DF: Quentin Cheng was on the bench during the recent Causeway Derby, and remains an option in defence alongside another familiar face in Kevin Deeromram. The latter played against the Sailors with Port last season and both fullbacks may feature alongside Abdulnadi and centrebacks Ghanaian Richard Ankrah and Malaysian national team stalwart Harith Haiqal. Academy talents Zikri Khalili and Shahrul Nazeem and former JDT returnee Fazly Mazlan round off their loaded lineup, and with even all these backups being capped for the Harimau Malaya at times, their defence will look to offer a better effort at resistance as compared to their previous match.
MF: Nooa Laine started against our Lions in September, and the half-Malay Flying Finn will look to dictate the pace from midfield alongside al-Rawabdeh. Having been at the receiving end of a major thrashing from us last season, Picha Autra will have something to prove after arriving from Muangthong United (although he will have to make do as an impact substitute) while also competing for places in the congested Thailand midfield. Both Aliffs of Selangor (Izwan and Haiqal, who happen to be native sons of the state) remain wildcard options from the bench, as is the experienced Mukhairi Ajmal.
FW: Faisal Halim’s recovery to regain his place in the starting lineup after a horrific acid attack by unknown assailants in 2024 has seen the supremely talented flanker being rewarded with the club captaincy after Safuwan vacated his post. That same fighting spirit will be key in galvanizing both himself and his team mates in tackling one of their toughest opponents in the ACL Two.
Zach Clough brings high level experience from the English Championship and the A-League Men, and as much as he can flit between the flanks or overload the attacking midfield, the well travelled Alvin Fortes (Cape Verde) and Omid Musawi (Afghanistan) are experienced options with experience for both club and country. Former Buriram man Chrigor seems to be favoured ahead of Willian Lira, which might point to a finisher who may be adept at scoring goals as much as creating chances for the mobile front three.
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Thanks Joseph for that comprehensive primer!
Safuwan
Our Selangor preview wouldn’t be complete without talking about Safuwan, currently on loan from Selangor. In the first few matches of the season, Safuwan has proven to be a key contributor to our defensive solidity.
While we do not know for sure, there are rumours that Safuwan’s loan terms do not allow him to play against his parent club. However, his inclusion in the Sultan of Selangor Cup this past weekend, as well as his involvement in the pre-match Meet-and-Greet tomorrow makes it pretty clear that he will not be playing any part in the upcoming game. While his presence will surely be missed, the lack of local quota in AFC competitions surely gives us plenty of flexibility to come up with a lineup that can cover for his absence.
The bigger worry though, are some suggestions on social media that Safuwan could be recalled from his loan early after the sacking of coach Kinoshi, which potentially leaves behind a gap for a local defender that would not be easy to fill. There are very very few local defenders better than Safuwan right now, and if this loan recall does indeed materialize, we would be heavily reliant on Hariss and Lionel to cover the gap as we continue to challenge on multiple fronts, far from an ideal scenario.
Conclusion
This will be a must-win game for both sides, with Sailors needing to take advantage of their home form to qualify for the next round, while Selangor absolutely cannot afford to go 0-2 in their opening 2 games. Sailors will no doubt be looking to exploit Selangor’s leaky defence as well as their lack of familiarity with the new coach. Unfortunately, ticket sales do not look great right now, likely because of the 6pm kickoff timing. Let’s hope it picks up in the final hours as we return to Bishan for our first continental home game of the season!
SFT Predicted Line-up
Ivan
Chris – Bailey – Toni – Diogo
Tsiy – Harris – Rui
Maxime – Anderson – Bart
SFT Score predictions
Chin Heng – 2-1
Ernest – 3-1
Bryan – 3-1
Reuben – 2-0
Joseph Chin – 2-0
Joseph Jireh – 3-0
Phelan – 2-1
Anatolii – 3-2
Written by Chin Heng and Joseph Chin
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