Match Previews

After the high of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ACL2 competition, our Sailors must now come back to Earth and re-focus on our Singapore Cup campaign. Let’s dive right into a short preview of tonight’s game. Domestic Treble a Priority You may remember that after winning the Community Shield last year, Technical Director Luka Lalic put up an IG post stating that 33% of a treble was done. If you don’t remember it, look at this. Now, I believe he wasn’t so optimistic at the start of the season to think that we would win the Shopee Cup or the ACL2, so I think he might well have been referring to the domestic treble – SPL, Singapore Cup, and of course, the Community Shield that we’ve already won. That being the case, tonight’s game is important, because BG Pathum has started well in this competition, and Balestier Khalsa are our direct rivals for qualification too. I have always maintained that for a team of our resources, we have to dominate every domestic competition. Of course, we have a game in hand, but we want to enter the game against Geylang with a 5-point lead so that regardless of what happens, they can’t catch us. Rotation Even though we don’t play till later on in the month, I have a feeling Coach Ranko will rotate some players into the starting 11. He will be aware that Wednesday’s game would have taken a fair bit out of certain players, while also taking into account the impending international window where our Singaporean players (ana Ali Alrina for Syria) will not have much of a break at all. Shawal came on and went off in the last game so might have his minutes managed again, while Maxime surely won’t be available after he looked to have dislocated his elbow on Wednesday. I think it’s also important to keep players sharp. With Maxime’s injury, we may have to lean on our bench a bit more, so I think it would be good for the bench players to get some meaningful minutes. Dangerman – Kodai Tanaka The dangerman is an obvious one. Kodai Tanaka, previously of LCS before his horrific knee injury, will be the one to watch out for. He has a whopping tally of 20 goals and 11 assists, 2 goals fewer than our very own Lennart Thy, but with 6 more assists to his name. In recent games, he seems to have added something into his arsenal – the ability to run with the ball over long stretches and provide a pass for his teammates. This wasn’t always the case with Kodai, who was most known for his penalty box prowess in the past. You can see the varied threat that Kodai Tanaka poses from the types of goals he is scoring. Of course, without Anton Fase alongside him, and Alen Kozar pulling the strings in midfield, it might be a little harder for Kodai to thrive, but that didn’t stop him in Balestier’s previous game, where he got a goal, an assist, and also forced an own goal as Balestier beat Geylang. He does however, have joint-top local scorer Ignatius Ang to look for on the pitch though. Ignatius is playing his best ever season in his long career, and we will have to look out for him as well. With 8 goals and 4 assists in the league, Ignatius is also in pretty good form, and was the matchwinner last time out against Geylang. Balestier’s Strange Form Balestier’s form is pretty strange. Losing to Young Lions and Albirex, but managing to pick up 2 wins over an impressive Geylang team, on top of securing all three points in an away trip to DPMM – you never quite know what you’re gonna get with Balestier Khalsa on any given day. Conclusion With Alen Kozar and Anton Fase out, we have to capitalise. I think we should have too much for Balestier Khalsa, and I predict us to get back to winning ways after two consecutive draws. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! My predicted line-up Izwan Mahbud Akram Azman, Ali Alrina, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Sergio Carmona Rui Pires, Anumanthan Kumar Abdul Rasaq, 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: Sailors 4 Balestier Khalsa 1 Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 2 Balestier Khalsa 0 Written by Eddy Hirono 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!

It’s not often you get thrashed 6-1 away from home, only to head into the second leg with a 3-goal advantage. That is the unexpected lifeline we have been given after the dramatic turn of events over the weekend. If you are somehow reading this but don’t know what happened, please read this Straits Times article. It’s why I was dropping hint after hint in the Post-Match Thoughts article last week because I had heard some rumours that the 3-0 walkover was gonna happen. In case you missed the hints – There was the more blatant hint – And then a much less blatant one – And also the choice of picture with Valere Germain inexplicably doing some weird prophetic hand-signs – Someone really needs to ask him what those hand signs were supposed to mean – his teammate was doing it too. Also, what kind of oddball does different signs for “3” on different hands? Usually people stick with one preference, and there are even suggestions that doing the “wrong” gesture can give away where you are from. If Inglourious Basterds is to be believed, that is – where a major plot point used the fact that an undercover agent posing as a German soldier gave himself away by using the wrong way to gesture for “3”. But, enough of the jokes and idle talk – the unexpected lifeline is like the one on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It’s very helpful, but the odds are still stacked against you. Our Sailors still have to go out and put on a hell of a performance if we are to qualify for the semi-finals. Let’s dive right into the preview. Sanfrecce Are Quality I have already written about this in the last two articles, but let me reiterate this. I am a Sailors fan, but first and foremost, I am a football fan. Watching good teams play excites me. And it was truly impressive what Sanfrecce did to us in the first leg. Yes, some of the goals were perhaps avoidable, but there was also a sense that nearing the end of the game, Sanfrecce could have pushed on for more goals if they truly wanted. Diogo Costa, who has been a shining light for us since he signed in January, looked distinctly ordinary, while Maxime Lestienne was rendered almost invisible. Shawal scored a wonderful goal, but was found wanting in terms of quality of touch and pass in other parts of the game. Bailey and Toni are usually so solid at the back, but looked a little overwhelmed at times as well. All this is not for the lack of trying. The effort was there, but Sanfrecce were just better. And we shouldn’t be surprised. They were top-scorers of the J-League last year by some distance, and by finishing second, they qualified for the ACL Elite next season. They are not really an ACL2 team. What I also like about them is that they are so confident in their quality that at today’s press conference, when Michael Skibbe was asked about the artificial pitch, he said it was a “nice” surface – a refreshing change from usual coaches who come here and pre-emptively complain about the surface and how their team will have to adapt to it, as if giving excuses for any potential bad result. They will feel confident that having beaten us 6-1 last week, they can do something similar tonight. Their threats are across the team as well, and it’s not gonna be easy to focus on one or two of them to stop the threat. Just look at this – Parking the Bus (Or Ship, or Whatever Vehicle of Choice) In the pre-match press conference, a question was put to Coach Ranko – would he be looking to park the bus? This was his response. Parking the bus is not as easy as it seems. It requires a well-drilled defence, and one that is used to being patient and absorbing pressure. It also requires a goalkeeper who takes good care of long shots and crosses. It also requires a few members of the team to be “bad guys” who will roll around, antagonise, waste time, and just look to frustrate. I don’t think we are equipped to do that. We have not shown ourselves to be capable of doing that. Think Persib at JBS, think Zhejiang away, think Muangthong away. When we collapse into our defensive shell, we get less and less confident with each phase of play, and we end up caving. I think keeper-wise, Izwan will be the first to admit that he hasn’t been anywhere near his high standards set for himself. This ACL2 campaign we have let in 3 goals from long shots outside the box, and while we score many goals, there is a concerning number of goals that comes from areas where you would hope your keeper will come to claim the ball commandingly on the cross. Luckily, he sort of makes up for this with his excellent distribution, both with his hands and his feet, and his kicks have led to chances for our players before. In a game where we are likely to have to play on the counter, this may be crucial. I think the fact that we are so dominant in our league also means that we don’t get the opportunity to train how to be the “bad guys” the way DPMM always does, or more recently, how Hougang shut us down. It’s not easy to suddenly play like an underdog and do the dark arts. In our current squad, the players I see as able to do this the best are Song Ui-Young and Lionel Tan. Song is suspended, while Lionel didn’t make the bench even against Hougang, so I suspect he is injured. So I trust Ranko when he says he won’t park the bus. There will be some plan to hit Sanfrecce on the counter-attack, if only to pin 2

It is Matchday but I don’t think I’ve heard one Sailors fan discuss the upcoming SPL game with Hougang. With the league title nearly wrapped up and all eyes on Wednesday’s clash with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, many fans see this match as a mere distraction. Of course, there was also all the drama surrounding the walkover decision by the AFC. This match is a distraction – but nevertheless one we will not want to lose even if we rest everyone who may be involved on Wednesday. Let’s dive right into the preview. It will be a short one, given the (relatively) low stakes for this game. Not About the Quality of Opponent There will most definitely be a raft of changes – and I think it has nothing to do with quality of opponent. No matter who we were playing today, I think Coach Ranko will ring the changes, simply because there is a lead to protect on Wednesday and we have a chance of making it into the semi-finals of the ACL2. That’s definitely something worth gambling for, especially with the commanding position we have in the league. A 9-point lead, a game in hand, and a huge goal difference advantage. Perfect conditions for us to rest players for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who themselves do not have a league game this weekend, and have arrived in Singapore yesterday to begin their acclimatisation. There’s no reason for us to put ourselves at a disadvantage by playing a strong team at the weekend. Plus it’s not like Hougang are at their strongest either. Hougang Missing Key Players As if we needed more incentive to rest our key players, Hougang United will be missing some key players too. Defender Jovan Mugosa went off with a sickening crunch against DPMM, and with his ACL injury, went Hougang’s unbeaten streak. Prior to that, he had been a part of 4 very impressive performances, including a 4-2 win over BG Tampines and a 2-1 win over Albirex. Add to that Zulfahmi Arifin’s suspension due to an elbow to his opponent, and you suddenly find an important part of Hougang’s spine ripped out. While they can still call upon Shahdan Sulaiman and Shodai Yokoyama in midfield, Zulfahmi’s control of the pace of the game, and his set-piece prowess will be missed. Dejan Racic was also not available for the last game, though I am not sure why. If he is missing again, then we have one less reason to fear Hougang, as he is their top-scorer this season. Major Test for Akram Azman I expect Akram Azman to start, and his direct opponent is the dangerous Stjepan Plazonja. Sometimes for fringe players to break through, they need difficult tests to prove their worth. And in terms of the SPL, there is no greater test for a fullback than having to mark Plazonja. He is Hougang’s top assister and second-top goalscorer, and his direct play has caused much trouble for rightbacks up and down the league. Another option could also of course be Mamat (Zulqarnaen Suzliman), who is finally back from injury, and was finally back on the bench against BG Tampines Rovers, after a few appearances for the U21s. He is a fan favourite, and I hope that he will get some minutes, even if playing him from the start might just be a bridge too far for him. Conclusion Told you it will be a short one. Frankly, I don’t think supporters will be too fussed if we drop points in this one. Get a draw, fine. Get a win, great. The priority is to ensure that everyone is fit and ready for Wednesday’s game where we have a 3-0 lead to defend (if you’re not sure what’s happening, Google “Germain suspension AFC Sanfrecce Hiroshima hahahahaha”. You may or may not need the laughter at the end, but the Google search engine will not begrudge you that I am sure. One more thing about this match is I would hope Izwan uses it to get a bit of confidence back. Try to keep a clean sheet, and try to do all the basics right – I am sure he will be slightly disappointed with his keeping in the Sanfrecce match. Whatever it is and whoever we play, NO INJURIES PLEASE. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! My predicted line-up Izwan Mahbud Akram Azman, Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Ali Alrina, Sergio Carmona Song Ui-Young, Anumanthan Kumar Abdul Rasaq, Lennart Thy, Haiqal Pashia 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: Hougang United 2 Sailors 4 Joseph’s prediction: Hougang United 1 Sailors 7 Written by Eddy Hirono 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!

There’s no real way to compare relative strength of teams, especially if you are comparing across different leagues, and more so if you compare across different years. However, I think a real case can be made that this is the toughest competitive fixture in our Sailors’ young history. Here’s a list of the teams we’ve played continentally so far from leagues bigger than ours, in no particular order. Buriram, Daegu, Jeonbuk, Urawa Red Diamonds, Port FC, Zhejiang FC, Shandong Taishan. You look at that list and maybe you say Urawa Red Diamonds, because they’re from the J League as well, and because they actually went on to win the ACL, defeating Al-Hilal in the final after thrashing us 4-1 and 6-0 in the centralised tournament group stage in Buriram. But it certainly didn’t look as ominous prior to them playing us. Urawa finished in 6th place, some 29 points off the top of the table when they qualified for the ACL that year, by winning the Emperor’s Cup. How did Sanfrecce Hiroshima qualify? By finishing in 2nd place, 4 points off the top, but as top-scorers by some distance. They do pack a threat in front of goal, and certainly look a more impressive team. Such is the quality of the J-League that playing any team would be tough enough, but when you take on the 2nd-best team that are also the top scorers? Oof. Let’s dive right into the preview, and I’ve really let Joseph Chin do the heavy lifting here, as he brings you the lowdown on our opponents, along with all sorts of cool facts. Take it away, Joseph. The Lowdown on Sanfrecce Hiroshima, by Joseph Chin Brief History They were founded as the works team of car-maker Mazda (then known as Toyo Kogyo) in 1938. Their greatest continental success was 3rd place in 1969’s Asian Club Cup, which was a precursor to the modern-day ACL. As a founding member of the modern-day J League in 1992, they adopted their new name of Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and through some ups and downs (including relegation), they finally won the league in 2012 and that heralded a golden period of two more titles in 2013 and 2015. Hiroshima is the name of where they come from in Japan, but what is a Sanfrecce? Well, Sanfrecce is a combined word, consisting of San (Japanese for the number three), and Frecce (Italian for arrow). This explains why you see three arrows on the club crest. The “three arrows” story is a significant one in Hiroshima, as there used to be feudal warlord who used the three arrows story to demonstrate unity and strength (three arrows are harder to break than one) – I think the Chinese people have a similar story too. Hmm. Anyway, here’s the official club explanation if you wanna see more. Interesting Singapore Links This is Sanfrecce’s first meeting with a Singapore club, but there is no lack of links to Singapore amongst some of their former personnel – not entirely relevant for tonight, but just interesting to note. Aurelio Vidmar, our former manager used to play there, as did SPL winner Tadanari Lee. The Albirex connection continues with Yojiro Takahagi (recently retired in mid-season) and Keiji Shigetomi (current manager) playing and coaching there respectively in their careers. The Man at the Helm Michael Skibbe. He is a former Schalke player whose brief senior career was cut short by bad cruciate injuries. His managerial career took off at Dortmund, and he also managed Leverkusen, Galatasaray, Al-Ain and the Greek national team. He has been with Sanfrecce since 2021, and this has been his longest spell yet. His previous stints with Bayer Leverkusen and the Greek national team lasted 3 years each. Current Hotshots Iconic Captain – Sho Sasaki: He’s been at Sanfrecce for a decade, and will be looking to commemorate the occasion with delivering the team some silverware. The veteran centreback has been a rock at the back in good times and bad, forming a formidable partnership with Hayato Araki. Super Senior – Tsukasa Shiotani: Captain Sasaki isn’t the oldest in the team, despite being 35 years of age. That honour goes to Tsukasa Shiotani. He is 36 and his claim to fame is scoring a goal for Al-Ain vs Real Madrid in a 4-1 loss in the Club World Cup Final in 2018. He spent 4 years in Abu Dhabi, a spell that was sandwiched between two stints playing for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Hired Gun – Tolgay Arslan: Would have been one of the more dangerous players on the pitch, but for the fact that he suffered an unfortunate knee injury that looks to rule him out for the better part of this year. A former Turkish-German youth international, he is a journeyman footballer whose career has taken him to Turkey, Australia, Italy, Germany, and now Japan. Hometown Hero – Hayao Kawabe: This man’s career has taken him places. His journey to become a midfield mainstay at his hometown club went through Jubilo Iwata, Grasshoppers (Swiss Super League), and Standard Liege (Belgian Pro League – where he arrived after Maxime left for Singapore). He was also signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022, but never made an appearance for them. He is one of four Hiroshima natives in the squad. Sharpshooter – Ryo Germain: Ryo has been thrust into the Sanfrecce attack after his goals weren’t enough to save Jubilo Iwata from relegation last season, despite being their top-scorer, and the 3rd top-scorer in the league. Now 29, half-American Ryo is a late-bloomer, having also played for Vegalta Sendai and Yokohama FC. Safe Hands – Keisuke Osako: Keisuke has been trusted to keep goal for Sanfrecce Hiroshima since 2018 after breaking through their academy system. He has been a second choice in the National Team setup behind Zion Suzuki. Wildcard – Valere Germain: New signing Valere is likely to be available. He was once a teammate of Kylian Mbappe in AS Monaco, and won Ligue 1 with him

There have been unforgettable nights for our Sailors this year. Some great unforgettable nights, some not so great yet still unforgettable nights. 4-0 v Muangthong, 5-2 v Port FC, 2-0 v Zhejiang FC, and of course, 7-1 against our old rivals, Albirex Niigata (S) – these matches belong to the former category. However, there are also nights we would want to forget, but we probably cannot. 2-3 to Persib Bandung after taking a commanding 2-0 lead, 2-4 to Zhejiang FC in freezing Hangzhou after taking a 2-0 lead, and of course a humiliating 0-5 loss to BG Tampines Rovers. Of all those results, the BG Tampines one irks me the most. Not only do we have the better players and more resources, the 5-0 loss was the result of players not doing the basics right, and everything that could go wrong for us went wrong. However, I have reason to believe that this won’t happen again tonight – let’s dive into the reasons why. Can’t Win When Basics Aren’t Done Right I am not gonna relive the whole game again. That’s torture. A 5-0 loss, and the poor way we played, conceding all manner of soft goals, will never not be torturous to talk about. So let’s just pick one issue and discuss how the team has changed since then. This is the lead-up to Boris’s first goal. Prior to this, both sides had been pretty even, and our centre-backs were dealing with the attacking threat of BG Tampines reasonably well. But when you play a high line, you absolutely have to put some pressure on the ball carrier. No one is applying any pressure, and there is no urgency at all. Irfan Najeeb literally had more than 5 seconds to look up, take a touch, and then play a simple pass behind the defence for Boris to go 1v1 with Zharfan. To make matters worse, our defensive line wasn’t in sync, as Lionel Tan did a Tristan Do, and did not keep the same defensive line with Bailey and Toni. After that, Zharfan spilled the ball for 2-0, Carmona let Glenn Kweh get past him too easily for 3-0 (and the centre-backs left Boris unmarked in the penalty area), we switched off somewhat on a freekick for 4-0, and then conceded a corner-kick goal for 5-0. (Oh shit I just relived it when I said I wouldn’t relive it.) Wholly preventable goals, and goals that would not have been conceded had we played with intensity and desire from the off – the same pace that we do against our continental opponents. We’ve seen how the team has grown since this 5-0 result, and how much more convincing we look when the team plays with intensity and discipline. This is a top-of-the-table clash so I don’t think our Sailors will be taking BG Tampines lightly at all. Not the Same Team Look at the lineup on that day of the 5-0, and think about who we are likely to see starting tonight. Completely different. Of that team, I’d expect maybe only 5 of them to start tonight. Bailey, Toni, Maxime, Shawal, and then one of Hariss or Lionel. It’s completely a different team, and also it was the first time that Coach Ranko played 5 at the back. Ignore the formation in the graphic above, the back 5 was Sergio, Toni, Bailey, Lionel and Hafiz. Since then, I think it’s fair to say that our left-back position has been improved with the signing of Diogo Costa, and as for right-back, Coach Ranko has landed on a solution where Hami Syahin plays there, but tucks into midfield when we have possession to give us more ball security. Song was also in poor form then, but has since really shown what he is really capable of, with pace and power in the middle of the pack proving to be difficult for opponents to handle. The familiarity with Coach Ranko’s tactics also grew as the season went along, so much so that when we named a B team to face BG Tampines in our last league game against them, we managed to scrape a 2-2 draw. Contrast in Form Last, but certainly not least, while our Sailors are firing on all cylinders, BG Tampines have been grinding out results without looking very convincing. This year, they’ve even managed to lose to Hougang United and draw with DPMM. Their last outing also saw them waste a host of chances to narrowly beat hapless DPMM with the help of an own goal. This is understandable, considering that they replaced their top-scorer and legendary striker Boris Kopitovic mid-season. As much as we like to make fun of him over here on SailorFanTalk, there’s no denying that the team have grown accustomed to having him lead their attack with his unique brand of aggression and hard work. A major reason for why BG Tampines works as well as they do is because of the familiarity the players have with each other. Boris was their striker for 5 years, and in that time, became their all-time top goalscorer. Even though the club replaced him with another hardworking striker who could get goals in the form of Itsuki Enomoto, it will still take some time for the partnerships on the field to form. In the meantime, we will have to capitalise. And we are well-placed to do so. Again I go back to how much the team has grown this season, and how accustomed we now are to the 5-at-the-back system. We’ve also seen how that system allows the likes of Diogo Costa and Akram Azman to really bomb down the wings and stretch play. I think BG Tampines will have a lot of thinking to do as to how to approach this game. They should be scared, looking at the kind of football we are capable of this year against teams like Muangthong, Buriram and Albirex. Then you add in the factor of how we rested half

This is gonna be a short one. It’s back to league action for our Sailors, and obviously, we’re on a high after Thursday’s result. However, will the squad be able to come down from Cloud Nine and put in a performance good enough to consolidate our lead at the top of the table? Some short thoughts ahead. Complacency + Rotation? The buzzword is complacency – this was echoed in the official preview article on the Sailors website too. You know how people say “no offence” before they say something truly offensive to you? The need to say it means that it is probably true. Similarly, when the official website talks about complacency, it’s because everyone knows that if we play to our full potential, we should win, even if we put out a rotated side. The last time we faced Balestier Khalsa, we ground out a 3-1 win, despite resting several key players. Maxime and Lennart didn’t start, and the goals came from Rasaq, Chris van Huizen, and Carmona. The rotation was necessary because that game was sandwiched between huge continental clashes. We had just beaten Zhejiang 2-0, and were heading into a crucial game against Cong An Ha Noi in the Shopee Cup. It is a similar story this time, coming off the back of a morale-boosting victory in the ACL2, and there is a huge clash against BG Tampines waiting for us in mid-week. Coach Ranko is definitely gonna have to rotate to keep everyone fresh. In the Post-Match Thoughts article I wrote about how much effort must have been expended in the game against Muangthong. I am sure he would also want to ensure that the heavy hitters are fit and raring to go for the midweek game. The players coming in might probably feel that it’s hard to break into the starting lineup for the glamour ties in the ACL2, but there is no other way to impress Coach Ranko. A good performance may not mean that automatically you’re in the coach’s thoughts, but a bad performance will certainly mean the opposite. Let’s hope some of the fringe players step up. Balestier Not the Same Balestier Khalsa were stronger in the opening half of the season. Since then, they have lost Jordan Emaviwe, Tajeli Salamat, and crucially, Ismail Sassi. Ismail Sassi was their 2nd highest contributor when it came to goals and assists. With 13 goals and 3 assists, he was always a threat. You may also remember him scoring against us in our 4-2 victory early on in the season. He has been replaced, by Anton Fase, who already has 3 goals to his name in all competitions. He has looked lively but it really remains to be seen if he can replicate the threat that Ismail Sassi poses. Nevertheless, Balestier are still one of the highest-scoring sides in the league, and our defenders will need to be on top of their game to ensure we don’t leak too many goals. On the recruitment side, they’ve also brought in Cher Deng (I know nothing about him), Jared Gallagher, and Abdil Qaiyyim. The latter two will look to add some more defensive solidity to the team, but they will need time to figure out on-field chemistry and partnerships. Balestier’s Defensive Record Balestier’s defensive record should give our forwards a lot of encouragement. In the league, they have conceded 58 goals, which is the 3rd-worst, only behind Tanjong Pagar United, and Young Lions. In part, it’s due to the way they play out of the back, and commit men forward in search of goals. In part, it’s also due to individual errors at the back, and this season, Hafiz Ahmad has been particularly culpable in that regard. I think I can remember at least 5 occasions in recent matches where his decision-making has led to trouble for his team. We absolutely must exploit this. Balls into the box, shots from range, chips from the halfway line – the works. We should do everything to try to exploit this vulnerability at the back. Kodai Tanaka A man we fans love despite him not playing for us anymore. Kodai seemed to go through a barren spell at the back-end of 2024, but in the last 2 games, he has notched 4 goals – we will do well to make sure we nullify his threat. Conclusion It remains to be seen what kind of lineup Coach Ranko goes with, but I think regardless of lineup, we should enter the game as favourites. Psychologically, we also want to put BG Tampines under the biggest stress ahead of Wednesday’s clash against them, by making the gap as large as possible. You’ve seen how badly our Sailors can play if we’re not 100% focused on the task (Albirex earlier this season, and also the recent game against Kaya FC). If we focus, take our opponents seriously and play as we can, I am sure we will pick up the 3 points. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE. My predicted line-up Izwan Mahbud Akram Azman, Lionel Tan, Ali Alrina, Toni Datkovic, Sergio Carmona Song Ui-Young, Anumanthan Kumar Lennart Thy, Abdul Rasaq, Haiqal Pashia 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: Balestier 1 Sailors 4 Joseph’s prediction: Balestier 1 Sailors 5 Written by Eddy Hirono 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!

If we play our full-strength team, we are huge favourites to win ths game. However, I think we should definitely not start our heavy-hitters here in the game later – let’s rest them all for the 2nd leg clash against Muangthong. Here’s some very very short pre-match thoughts. Muangthong Resting This Weekend As stated in the official club preview article earlier this week, Muangthong have the benefit of resting this weekend. The Thai FA postponed their league fixture so that they could turn up for the continental fixture in their best condition. We’d be foolish not to rotate given such circumstances. We know that Thai teams tend to play at a higher pace and intensity, so we’ll need our fresh legs to be able to compete. They are likely to pile on the pressure early, given their need for a goal to level the tie. Let’s give ourselves the best chance of matching them for intensity. We Can Afford to Lose One Cup Game Our best chance of advancing in the ACL2 is if we devote all our attention to the Muangthong game. However, in the Cup it’s a different story. Tanjong Pagar may well beat us if Salif Cisse returns and if we rotate too much. Rotation not only takes away individual quality from the pitch, it also disrupts the rhythm and momentum the team has built up. However, the group stage is 4 games long, and losing 1 game doesn’t kill us. Losing 1 game in ACL2 likely does. While I think that the players coming in on rotation should still back themselves to be able to get a result against Tanjong Pagar, it is not fatal if we get a bad result. We absolutely should gamble, just as how we did when we rested half the team against BG Tampines and still managed to escape with a 2-2 draw. And the league is way more important than the cup! Ali Alrina If there’s rotation, we might see Ali Alrina start. He made his debut against Muangthong and while we still conceded a late goal, I particularly enjoyed one clearance he made where he enthusiastically chest-bumped his defensive colleagues after getting rid of the ball. I love defenders who love to defend. There have been some questions about his signing, so let me try my best to answer them. The most common question asked has been – who is deregistered to allow him to play in the SPL or Singapore Cup? The answer is “no one”. Some fans will have noticed that his jersey number is 68. In the SPL rules, that means he has been registered in the U21 squad. This means that he does not replace any of our 9 foreigners in the first-team squad. SPL teams are allowed to field a maximum of 5 players from the U21 squad in an SPL or Singapore Cup game. However, this does not mean that since we can field 6 (4+1+1) foreigners in a matchday squad, we can field an additional 5 foreign players from the U21 squad. The U21 foreigner will still be subject to the limit of 6 foreigners in the matchday squad. Crucially, Ali Alrina, being both a U21 player and a player of AFC nationality, means he will be able to provide central defensive cover even for Bailey Wright, who qualifies for the AFC spot because he is Australian. Ali Alrina comes with quite a good CV, having experience in the AFC Cup, and also being a Syrian international. If you’re wondering why he would come play in the SPL and be registered as a U21 player, the reason is likely because the Syrian league has been suspended. Conclusion There really isn’t much else to say that hasn’t already been covered in the preview last week. Tanjong Pagar are only gonna get better with more training sessions under Noh Alam Shah, and the possible return of Salif Cisse. We are definitely gonna rotate – it’s just how much. Song and Zharfan are probably the only people almost confirmed to play – Song because he is suspended for the Muangthong game, and Zharfan because Izwan looked to have suffered a concussion in midweek. Whatever team is put out, let’s hope the players find it within themselves to fight hard and try to muscle their way into future first team lineups. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE! My predicted line-up Zharfan Rohaizad Chris van Huizen, Lionel Tan, Ali Alrina, Bill Mamadou, Sergio Carmona Song Ui-Young, Anumanthan Kumar Abdul Rasaq, Lennart Thy, Obren Kljajic 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: Sailors 2 Tanjong Pagar 1 Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 5 Tanjong Pagar 1 Written by Eddy Hirono 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!

It’s the big one. Our Sailors have started 2025 in decent form, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that fans and players have all been looking out for this game. It’s the big one – one that will show how far we have come as a team. Advancing out of a tough group stage was definitely an achievement, and now is the time to build on that if possible. Perhaps not the best time to face Muangthong United, who are in decent form as well – but hey, to be the best, you gotta beat the best. Let’s dive right into the preview, starting with Joseph Chin’s lowdown on our opponents. The Lowdown on Muangthong United, by Joseph Chin Brief History Founded as a school team in 1989, Muangthong United experienced most of their success in the 2010s, and even though they have faded a little after 2018, they remain a regular fixture in the league. Their first foray into continental football ended with Singapore’s SAFFC sending them out on penalties after a 0-0 draw at Jalan Besar in Round 2 of the Qualifiers for the ACL. They next faced Singapore opposition in the 2011 AFC Cup, drawing 1-1 at Jalan Besar, before winning 4-0 at home. Club Legends Robbie Fowler – Came to Muangthong near the end of his career as a player-coach. Viewed as a watershed moment for the Thai League at that time. Teerasil Dangda – Legendary Thai striker, nemesis to Singapore sides over the years. Would later go on to play for Almeria, the first Southeast Asian and Thai player to play in La Liga. Also had spells in the J-League and Swiss Super League. Xisco Munoz – Formerly of Deportivo and Newcastle. Was part of a trio of stars, along with Chanathip Songkrasin and Theerathon Bunmathan (the crotch-grabber) that led Muangthong to their most successful years in the 2010s. Stadium Thunderdome Stadium is one of the first club-owned stadiums built from scratch without the running track (seen in other Thai stadiums such as Thamassat and Rajamangala), a trendsetter for later stadiums like the BG Pathum Stadium and Buriram’s Thunder Castle, that promises a more tight, intimate and intimidating atmosphere. The Manager Swiss-born Italian manager Gino Lettieri is rather unknown compared to previous illustrious names in charge, such as Slavisa Jokanovic, Winfried Schafer, and Tawan Sripan. Had a mediocre playing career but rose from obscurity after winning the Lithuanian league with FK Panevezys. Currently getting the job done evidently, as seen by their position in the league table, just behind Bangkok United and Buriram. Players to Look Out For Jacob Mahler – Unfortunately we don’t get to see our Singaporean son, given his season-ending ACL injury. We wish him a speedy recovery, Aly Cissokho – Liverpool fans will know this name. He might be at the tail-end of his career, much like Robbie Fowler during his time here, but his top-flight experience (Liverpool, Lyon, Aston Villa, Valencia) will come in handy for Muangthong at the back. Got the stoppage time winner in a dramatic win over Chiangrai United just 5 days ago. Hong Jeong-un – Former Daegu FC centre-back who played against Sailors twice in 2022. Song Ui-young ghosting past him unmarked to score a header that started our famous 3-0 win was the iconic moment of our campaign. Tristan Do – The French-Thai rightback is a familiar name in the region, having been a stalwart of the Thai national team and also Muangthong United (with a spell for Bangkok Utd too) for the past decade. Emil Roback – Once the subject of a transfer worth about 1.5 million pounds to AC Milan, it is somewhat surprising to see him at Muangthong United so early in his career. However, he has impressed in Thailand, in the first senior stint of his career so far. Abbos Otakhonov – Has 2 caps for Uzbekistan. Even though these caps come from 2018, he has been a dependable presence at the back for Muangthong United in his first foray overseas having played for Uzbek clubs all his life. Willian Popp – Prolific scorer for Muangthong over 2 stints in his career, despite playing predominantly on the wing. Melvyn Lorenzen – Like some of our foreign stars, has experience playing in the Eredivisie. Never a prolific scorer, until he reached Thai League 2 football with Nakhon Ratchasima. Picha Autra – Club captain who brings much-needed experience. One of the few Thai players that gets caps in the Muangthong team. Both Teams in Good Form Thanks Joseph for the excellent lowdown on tonight’s opponents. I take over now. Both teams come into this in good form. Our Sailors have only lost once in 2025, a dead rubber game to Kaya FC. This form is mirrored by our opponents, who have only lost once, a 1-0 defeat to Ratchaburi FC. So not much to separate the teams in terms of the form book then. Their form has also seen them leapfrog Port FC and BG Pathum into 3rd place, a considerable feat given that both Port and BG Pathum have better players on paper. They are certainly a force to be reckoned with. I suspect how this will affect things tonight is that both teams will show a lot of respect to each other, but Muangthong will probably go for it a bit more, given that they have home advantage in their favourite Thunderdome Stadium, and they will not want to have to grab a win at Jalan Besar Stadium, a stadium where the conditions make it hard for any away team. Our Sailors Approach Having seen Chiangrai and Ratchaburi trouble Muangthong in recent weeks, the common factor is that both teams stayed quite compact and forced Muangthong to commit more men forward to try to break them down. However, both teams didn’t really have attacking outlets that they could utilise, so they couldn’t take advantage of the space left behind by Muangthong. In the end, Chiangrai conceded two

A couple of months ago, this would have been a walk in the park. TPUFC was losing game after game, conceding tons of goals while scoring barely any. Now though, they look a different team with some new faces, and also the return of a familiar face in Noh Alam Shah. They’re still bottom of the table, but is there some cause for concern? Let’s do a quick preview while I am still in Manila. Form since NAS Came Back Since Noh Alam Shah’s return, TPUFC have played three matches, achieving a win, a loss, and a draw. That is quite remarkable considering that prior to his return, they were on a run of 6 losses, and their last win was in July 2024. Yikes. However, since his return, by all accounts, he has worked the players insanely hard. I assume that means both fitness-wise and also defensively, because they now seem a much more solid outfit. Of the 3 games, the 3-0 win against DPMM stands out as the most impressive, because for a team that has conceded 74 goals this season, keeping a clean sheet is not easy. Scoring 3 goals isn’t easy as well, of course. He did an interview with the Straits Times and he had this to say – Ouch. Yeah he means business. Their match against Young Lions was an even one, and ended with a deserved draw, but prior to that NAS’s return, most people would have predicted Young Lions to triumph over them. In the 3 matches played, a key factor that has aided NAS is that Salif Cisse is back fit and firing. He has scored twice and also picked up a brilliant assist for Syahadat Masnawi. During their terrible run, Salif Cisse was often not available. He has only made 12 appearances in the league so far, out of a possible 21 games. Now that he’s back, TPUFC’s attack finally has a focal point, and they always look to launch it quick in defence up to him because he is capable of creating his own chances. If we keep him quiet, it would go a long way to getting that victory for us. Terrible Defence The difficulty with this preview of course is wondering whether NAS’s impact is big enough to change what we’ve seen with this team in the first half of the season. As mentioned earlier, they have by far the worst defensive record in the league, conceding 74 goals in 21 games. A -51 goal difference looks bad no matter how you slice it. A lot of that is due to poor organisation. Matt Silva has come in and already shown that he is a better communicator with the backline than the other goalies that TPU used this season. However, I don’t think one man can work wonders. Another unique stat for you is that TPUFC have conceded the most penalties this season, 8. 5 of those were from handballs, and the other 3 from mistimed tackles. What does that stat tell you? Maybe nothing. It could simply be that as a defensive team, they sit a lot in their own box, so given they spend so much time there, they are more likely to concede penalties. It could also be an indicator that they tend to panic a lot, and make bad decisions. However you look at it, I think our Sailors will be disappointed if they don’t cause a lot of trouble for Tanjong Pagar here. Rotation With the huge tie against Muangthong coming up, rotation will definitely enter the mind of Coach Ranko. How will he shuffle the pack? Diogo Costa didn’t play in the Shopee Cup, so he might come in for this one. Lionel did not even travel with the team to Manila – is he injured? Noone knows. Shawal did not even see a minute against Kaya FC, even when we were going for goals. Could Bill have played himself into the reckoning of the coaches, at least to start games in the league, if not in the ACL2? I suspect that the lineup will not be super-weak, given that any slip-up here will mean that our Sailors head into Thailand off the back of 2 bad results. Conclusion I think no matter how resurgent TPUFC are, we have to win this. Ultimately, this is largely still the same set of players that have struggled this season – except we went ahead and took their captain. For the sake of wrapping up the league, for the sake of entering the Muangthong game with a bit of spring in our step, we have to win this. COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE My predicted line-up Zharfan Rohaizad Hami Syahin, Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright, Toni Datkovic, Sergio Carmona Hariss Harun, Anumanthan Kumar Lennart Thy, Abdul Rasaq, 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! 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 TPUFC 0 Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 3 TPUFC 1 Written by Eddy Hirono 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! Picture credit – TPUFC Facebook

Good morning to you from bright, sunny Manila. I just got back to the hotel room a few hours ago from a bar with a live band and my oh my, the stereotypes are true, all Filipinos can sing. Two bands came on stage, and both absolutely blew us away. What blew us away even more was the fact that one of the “singers” in the first band wasn’t a band member at all, and he was just a local MP who happened to be in the area, and they got him up on stage to sing with them. If anyone knows who he is, give us a shout. Imagine that, you’re in Singapore listening to your favourite band at a bar, and suddenly Josephine Teo or Ong Ye Kung comes on stage to belt out hit after hit after hit. Our Filipino guest singer didn’t just do one or two songs, he did a 45min non-stop medley with the rest of the band, starting us off with a Backstreet Boys megamix and eventually culminating with some 70s disco hits like “September”, “Dancing Queen”, and “Let’s Groove Tonight”. What a blast it was. If you think that we look incredibly relaxed, it’s partly the alcohol, but partly also because tonight’s game is a dead rubber. We’re fighting for pride and that’s it. Let’s dive right into the preview. Kaya Cannot Overtake Us No matter what happens tonight, Kaya cannot overtake us. Even if we lose, they’ll be on 3 points and we stay at 4. However, I still hope the team takes it seriously. The last time we had a dead rubber in a continental game, that was against Kitchee in last season’s ACL, and honestly, that was a performance to forget. The players looked like they wanted to be on the beaches already, and there was no intensity, no fire. We can do much better than that. I’ve mentioned before that winning is a habit, and short of sending out your U21 team, any sort of loss will not be easy to compartmentalise for the senior squad. A win also further sends a message to the rest of the league and the continent, that Lion City Sailors is a force to be reckoned with. This reputation and fear factor that it comes with can be crucial as we look ahead to Muangthong. Now of course, given our packed schedule, I am not saying we should not rotate. From now till 2 March, we play 8 games, meaning that we only have 3-4 days to recover for each game. You definitely cannot get through such a schedule without giving some players rest. It’s whether we can do that and still put out each time, a team capable of winning the game. Auditioning for Starts in Bigger Games Football can be a funny old game sometimes. To say the back-end of 2024 was not a great time for Anu would be an understatement. Provisionally called up to the national team, then not deemed to be good enough for the final squad, getting very few minutes for the Sailors, and when he did, getting sent off – I didn’t see a way back for Anu to be honest. I assumed that his Sailors career would wind down, and he’d eventually join another club when the season ends. It felt sad but inevitable. Then there were rumours in January that TPUFC had agreed with LCS on a loan move for Anu, and I thought OK, it would be a good move for Anu. He gets some gametime to hopefully re-ignite his case for a National Team position, but I did say it would leave us a bit short given the number of competitions we were in. Lo and behold, Rui Pires then gets injured against DPMM, and Anu takes his place. An assured performance then leads to him starting against Albirex. Yet another assured performance later, starts for Buriram and then Geylang come. I can’t be arsed to go fetch the stats, but 3 starts in a row for Anu must be pretty rare in the last year and a half. And it’s not like Coach Ranko didn’t have options. He could have started Hariss there, he could have played another fullback against Buriram so that Hami can take Anu’s place in midfield. This is a show of confidence in Anu’s abilities by Coach Ranko, and I couldn’t be more pleased to see it. If anything, this should serve as a timely reminder to the rest of the squad that their time in the Sailors is not over until it’s truly over. For those finding minutes hard to come by, the coach can be convinced to allow a second chance – but the performances must come. Could tonight see people like Rasaq, Akram Azman, Haiqal Pashia and the like force their way into Coach Ranko’s thinking? No Dangermen for Kaya FC I can’t pretend to know much about the “dangermen” for Kaya FC. No matter how I watch them, there seem to be no dangermen. I am not even kidding. There’s the Kaishu-returning-to-take-revenge angle, but beyond that, I think the only threat to our team is complacency and/or a lack of desire. I mean, this is a team that made league goalscorer Tomoyuki Doi look completely ineffective in the last game, so I am not sure anyone from Kaya will trouble us. You can read the official club piece which tries to outline where the danger may come from, but it only served to reinforce my opinion – it depends on what kind of team we put out, and what kind of effort we want to expend on the pitch tonight. Conclusion There will be some rotation, but who comes in, that is the question. Mamat made his comeback to U21 action on Monday, but this game is perhaps a little too soon for him in his recovery process. Will the coaching team (minus Coach Ranko who hasn’t travelled cos he is