Brunei DPMM vs Tanjong Pagar United

(May 9, Friday, 8.15pm, Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium)

Written by: Muhammad Yazid

With all their title rivals dropping points this week, league leaders Brunei DPMM will hope to pull further away from the chasing pack as they welcome Tanjong Pagar United to their abode at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

The only time DPMM were denied victory at their home ground was when they lost out to then-league leaders Tampines Rovers in a 2-1 scoreline two months back. Apart from that defeat, all their other home games have seen victories.

Another outstanding piece of statistics Steve Kean’s side would be proud of is their goal-scoring record at home.

DPMM have currently scored the most goals in the league with 26 of them, and 18 were scored at home.

The Jaguars on the other hand have not won in their last five games and are languishing in the lower half of the table, as they sit at third from bottom with only nine points.

It is going to be a physically-exhausting experience for Tanjong Pagar as they will be going up against the likes of Rodrigo Tosi, Roy O’Donovan and Roberto Alviz.

The trio are among the most consistent players in the league, especially for Tosi and O’Donovan, who are leading the goal-scoring charts with ten and eight goals respectively.

Patrick Vallee’s side would be hoping that Sebastian Etiemble has recovered from his injury and feature in the match alongside Monsef Zerka to match the physical strength of their opponents in order to achieve a result.

The past three home games for the Bruneian team has seen them score a minimum of four goals in each game, as they brushed aside Courts Young Lions, Harimau Muda and Balestier Khalsa.

With another team from the bottom half of the table paying a visit to their arena, can they continue their fine goal-scoring streak at home and extend the gap at the peak of the table to seven points?

Key Men To Watch

Brunei DPMM: Azwan Ali

The speedy left winger has scored four goals in his last five games, including the winner which presented his team with all three points against Hougang United.

Last week, Azwan scored a screamer to seal the victory over Woodlands Wellington and to top it off, he was rated as the second best left midfielder in the league for that week as he impressively accomplished 79% of accurate passes, according to InStats.

Tanjong Pagar United: Masrezwan Masturi

Excelling in his make-shift right-back position, Masrezwan can still be relied on to start off attacks for Tanjong Pagar United.

His speed and dribbling ability gives him the ownership of the entire right flank and he is expected to sail in accurate crosses for Zerka to finish.

Brunei DPMM – WWWWW

30/4/14    Woodlands Wellington 0-2 Brunei DPMM

25/4/14    Brunei DPMM 4-1 Balestier Khalsa

16/4/14    Hougang United 0-1 Brunei DPMM

11/4/14    Brunei DPMM 5-0 Harimau Muda

6/4/14      Brunei DPMM 6-1 Courts Young Lions

Tanjong Pagar United – DDLDL

1/5/14      Geylang International 1-1 Tanjong Pagar United

25/4/14    Tanjong Pagar United 1-1 Tampines Rovers

17/4/14    Home United 4-0 Tanjong Pagar United

10/4/14    Tanjong Pagar United 1-1 Warriors FC

4/4/14      Albirex Niigata (S) 2-1 Tanjong Pagar United

Head to Head (S.League)

12/7/13    Tanjong Pagar United 1-1 Brunei DPMM

7/4/13      Brunei DPMM 0-1 Tanjong Pagar United

23/9/12    Tanjong Pagar United 0-3 Brunei DPMM

13/4/12    Brunei DPMM FC 3-2 Tanjong Pagar United