Courts Young Lions vs Harimau Muda

(October 1, Wednesday, 7.30pm, Jalan Besar Stadium)

Written by: Kenneth Ho

The developmental side of Singapore and Malaysia will pit against each other for the last time this season, and matches between this two sides have always been feisty.

Courts Young Lions are on a roll right now, coming into this game with three wins from their last five. That the last game was an impressive 3-0 win over title-contenders Home United speak volume of the Young Lions’ form, and is something Harimau will have to look out for.

On the other hand, Harimau Muda will go into this game on the back of a 5-1 thumping by Balestier Khalsa, so morale in the squad should be low.

However, it will be worth remembering that prior to the huge loss, the Young Tigers were unbeaten in three games, and even claimed a win over Hougang along the way. The fact that they lost so heavily to Balestier could have been a result of fatigue, where they had to play three games in the span of a week.

With both teams sitting in the bottom half, a sense of pride to prove that they are better than what the table shows will be present. What should win this game, will be which team wants it more.

Against Home, there were standouts, such as Sherif El-Masri or Jordan Webb. But what was more telling appeared in the statistics, where Instat showed that the squad averaged nearly the same scores of 90-100. This can be interpreted of the effective teamwork the Young Lions had, and this should prove crucial against the speedy Young Tigers.

Suspension: Qayyum Sabil (Harimau Muda).

Key Men To Watch

Courts Young Lions: Sahil Suhaimi

As mentioned, it could have been teamwork which allowed the Young Lions to romp to an emphatic win over Home in the last game. But Sahil has been an effective goal-threat for his team and this should be the case for him once again against a side which has the poorest defence in the league.

Harimau Muda: Ramzi Sufian

Sufian tends to over dribble the ball at times, and this may cost him in terms of getting the ball behind the opponent’s defence.

However, the speedy youngster’s pace have been a huge asset this season, and his bag of tricks can help him get past defenders. He should play a part here, if the Young Tigers are to get a result

Courts Young Lions – WWLDW

28/8/14    Home United 0-3 Courts Young Lions

23/8/14    Courts Young Lions 2-1 Hougang United

20/8/14    Warriors FC 4-1 Courts Young Lions

3/8/14      Courts Young Lions 0-0 Harimau Muda

1/7/14      Woodlands Wellington 1-3 Courts Young Lions

Harimau Muda – LWDDL

5/9/14      Harimau Muda 1-5 Balestier Khalsa

2/9/14      Hougang United 1-2 Harimau Muda

30/8/14    Woodlands Wellington 1-1 Harimau Muda

3/8/14      Courts Young Lions 0-0 Harimau Muda

22/6/14    Harimau Muda 1-4 Brunei DPMM

Head to Head (S.League)

3/8/14      Courts Young Lions 0-0 Harimau Muda

20/4/14    Harimau Muda 2-3 Courts Young Lions

1/8/13      Courts Young Lions 1-2 Harimau Muda

13/4/13    Harimau Muda 2-1 Courts Young Lions

19/7/12    Courts Young Lions 1-0 Harimau Muda

25/3/12    Harimau Muda 3-1 Courts Young Lions