Brunei DPMM vs Home United

(Jun 6, Friday, 8.15pm, Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium)

Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Brunei DPMM play hosts to Home United at Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium and they will be eager to return to winning ways in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League.

DPMM fell 1-0 to Warriors FC in their last league game at Choa Chu Kang Stadium as Hafiz Rahim netted the winner which closed the gap at the top to a mere four points.

As such, they will be looking to bounce back from that disappointment by picking up three points at home, a venue where they have only lost once this season and made it a fortress in the process.

Despite the loss in the league, the DPMM fans had something to cheer about as their team trounced Philippine outfit Global FC 7-0 to progress into the quarter-finals of the RHB Singapore Cup last week.

Roy O’Donovan grabbed a hat-trick while Rodrigo Tosi netted a brace in the second-half as the duo – who have 28 goals between them – led DPMM into the last eight of the competition.

They will however, not have it easy against Home who will want to emerge with three points here in what is a must-win clash to keep their slim title hopes alive.

The Protectors who are unbeaten in five games, got their Singapore Cup title defence off to a winning start as they thrashed Cambodian side NagaCorp FC 5-0 at Jalan Besar Stadium exactly a week ago.

While their backline was hardly tested, Home gave the opposing defence a torrid time in that game.

Indra Sahdan, Lee Kwan Woo and Fazrul Nawaz struck first-half goals before substitutes Ahmed Fahmie and Fazli Ayob scored one each in the closing stages to seal a comprehensive victory.

In all honesty, it could have been more had the Protectors taken the chances that came their way.

Against a team like DPMM, they can ill-afford to do the same as Steve Kean’s side have the ability to punish them with the likes of O’Donovan and Tosi ready to pounce.

However, O’Donovan will serve a one-match suspension after accumulating the fourth yellow card of the campaign against Warriors. Likewise, Home will miss the services of defender Sirina Camara and the two of them could be big misses for their respective teams.

Suspensions: Roy O’Donovan (Brunei DPMM); Sirina Camara (Home United)

Key Men To Watch

Brunei DPMM: Rodrigo Tosi

Tosi has been in inspiring form for the Wasps this term and with 12 goals thus far, the Brazilian is currently the leading goalscorer in the S.League.

In their last game where they lost1-0 to Warriors FC, the 31-year-old was third behind Warriors duo Hafiz Rahim and Kevin McCann with an InStat score of 102 in the attacking midfielders department.

While only one out of his four shots were on target, the midfielder-turned-forward saw 74% of his passes find its intended target and two out of the three passes into the box were accurate.

Home United: Fazrul Nawaz

Having sustained a head injury while playing for the LionsXII in the Malaysia Cup last year, there were fears that he would not be the same player as he was before.

However, he allayed those fears to come back even stronger as a player. The forward has already found the net six times this season and is an integral part of the Home strikeforce comprising of the likes of Bruno Castanheira and Indra Sahdan.

Fazrul found the net twice in their 4-1 win over Geylang International in Week 13 of the S.League and had a 80% passing accuracy as he was ranked second behind Kazuki Sakamoto with an InStat score of 119.

Brunei DPMM – WLWWW

31/5/14    Global FC 0-7 Brunei DPMM (RHB Singapore Cup)

22/5/14    Warriors FC 1-0 Brunei DPMM

14/5/14    Brunei DPMM 2-1 Albirex NIigata (S)

9/5/14      Brunei DPMM 4-0 Tanjong Pagar United

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

Home United – WWDDW

30/5/14    Home United 5-0 Nagacorp FC (RHB Singapore Cup)

22/5/14    Geylang International 1-4 Home United

18/5/14    Home United 2-2 Tampines Rovers

7/5/14      Courts Young Lions 1-1 Home United

2/5/14      Warriors FC 1-4 Home United

Head to Head (S.League)

14/3/14    Home United 0-3 Brunei DPMM

10/5/13    Brunei DPMM 3-2 Home United

21/2/13    Home United 0-0 Brunei DPMM

29/9/12    Brunei DPMM 3-2 Home United

19/4/12    Home United 1-0 Brunei DPMM