Written by: Shawn Lim

Geylang International vs Tampines Rovers
(Thursday, 21 April, 7.30pm, Bedok Stadium)

Geylang International will welcome Tampines Rovers to Bedok Stadium on Thursday night looking to arrest their run of consecutive draws in recent games in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League.

The Eagles have drawn six out of their last eight games despite playing entertaining football because of their inability to kill off matches and allowing their opponents back into the game.

One of those draws came against their upcoming opponent on Thursday night, as the Eagles held the Stags to a thrilling 3-3 draw in both sides’ first game of the season in February.

The Stags have remained unbeaten in the league since that game, but the run came to a grinding halt last week against title hopefuls Albirex Niigata (S), where they fell to a 1-0 defeat.

That result might seemed to be a one-off, but Tampines’ recent performances – they lost 2-1 to Ceres La Salle in the AFC Cup before the defeat to White Swans – suggest that V.Sundramoorthy has a lot of work to do with his side.

Branko Cubrilo and Yuki Ichikawa could return for the Eagles after sitting out their 2-2 draw with Home United last week, while the Stags are keeping their fingers crossed that goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud can recover in time for the second Eastern Derby of the season.

Key Men To Watch

Geylang International: Al-Qaasimy Rahman

The 24-year-old had a forgettable game against Home last week, where he was at fault for the first goal, before scoring an own goal.

The left-back will be keen to produce a good game here and erase the bad memories of his last game.

Tampines Rovers: Fazrul Nawaz

The veteran striker has shown a shocking lack of composure in front of goal in recent matches, constantly missing clear-cut opportunities from close range after being set-up well by his teammates.

If the Stags are hoping to get out of this current rut of form they are in, they will need Fazrul, who was the local top-scorer last season, to find his scoring boots again.

Geylang International – DDDLD

15/04/16  Geylang International 2-2 Home United (S.League)
07/04/16  Hougang United 3-1 Geylang International (S.League)
01/04/16  Geylang International 2-2 Warriors FC (S.League)
10/03/16  Geylang International 0-0 Albirex Niigata (S) (S.League)
03/03/16  Geylang International 0-0 Balestier Khalsa (S.League)

Tampines Rovers – WWWLL

16/04/16  Albirex Niigata (S) 1-0 Tampines Rovers (S.League)
12/04/16  Ceres La Salle 2-1 Tampines Rovers (AFC Cup)
07/04/16  Tampines Rovers 1-0 Balestier Khalsa (S.League)
03/04/16  Garena Young Lions 1-2 Tampines Rovers (S.League)
19/03/16  Brunei DPMM 1-2 Tampines Rovers (S.League)

Head To Head (S.League)

15/02/16  Tampines Rovers 3-3 Geylang International
20/10/15  Geylang International 1-4 Tampines Rovers
29/07/15  Tampines Rovers 2-0 Geylang International
03/04/15  Geylang International 3-2 Tampines Rovers
06/06/14  Geylang International 1 – 0 Tampines Rovers