Written by: Rashid Sulaiman

Hougang United vs Albirex Niigata (S)

(Wednesday, 15 June, 8pm, Hougang Stadium)

Without a win in their last five games, Hougang United coach K.Balagumaran has called on his team to tighten their defence as they welcome Great Eastern-Yeo’s S.League leaders to the Hougang Stadium on Wednesday night.

“We worked on our defence after the Balestier game (2-2). We missed Yusiskandar for that match as he went for a minor surgery but he is now back with with squad and hopefully he will be fit to play against Albirex,” said Balagumaran.

“We do have a problem with our defence throughout the season and that is something which we are trying to rectify.”

Facing an Albirex side who are currently on an eight-match winning streak, Balagumaran will be hoping for his team to prevent the White Swans from taking an early lead.

“We played against them (Albirex) during the break and we both played the same tactics, soak the pressure and then launched the counter,” explained Balagumaran.

“Our problem is that we should not concede early goals as it would be a mountain to climb, as you can see in our previous game against Balestier. I hope we can avoid defensive errors which is very costly for us,” added the Hougang coach.

The previous meeting between the two teams earlier in the season saw Albirex come away with a 2-0 win and Balaguraman will be hoping for his custodian Khairulhin Khalid to be on top form and thwart any shots that come his way.

“He (Khairulhin) made several remarkable saves in the season, but Albirex also has a very good goalkeeper.

“I can’t blame the goalkeeper for some of the goals that we conceded. It’s good to see young goalkeepers coming up and Khai would give a good fight for khairul for a spot in the national team and stake a claim for the AFF Suzuki Cup.”

Suspension: Fairoz Hasan (Hougang United)

Hougang United – LDLDD

10/06/16 Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Hougang United (S.League)

19/05/16  Hougang United 1-1 Garena Young Lion (S.League)

14/05/16  Brunei DPMM 3-2 Hougang United (S.League)

04/05/16  Hougang United 1-1 Tampines Rovers (S.League)

29/04/16  Home United 3-2 Hougang United (S.League)

Albirex Niigata (S) – WWWWW

10/06/16 Albirex Niigata (S) 3-2 Warriors FC

20/05/16   Albirex Niigata (S) 2-0 Geylang International (S.League)

06/05/16   Albirex Niigata (S) 6-0 Balestier Khalsa (S.League)

28/04/16   Albirex Niigata (S) 3-0 Garena Young Lions (S.League)

22/04/16   Brunei DPMM 1-2 Albirex Niigata (S) (S.League)

Head-to-Head (S.League)

02/04/16 Albirex Niigata (S) 2-0 Hougang United

20/11/15 Albirex Niigata (S) 1-0 Hougang United

28/08/15 Hougang United 1-1 Albirex Niigata (S)

01/05/15 Albirex Niigata (S) 2-1 Hougang United

05/06/14 Albirex Niigata (S) 0-1 Hougang United