Tanjong Pagar United vs Balestier Khalsa

(Jun 4, Wednesday, 7.30pm, Queenstown Stadium)

Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Tanjong Pagar United are prepared to host Balestier Khalsa at the Queenstown Stadium on Wednesday after putting a halt to their long winless run, thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Hougang United in the preliminary round of the Singapore Cup.

The Tigers also earned an impressive result in the Cup as they knocked Warriors FC out after a 3-1 win.

It has been a pretty poor season for the Jaguars as they are struggling at the bottom part of the table and are sitting three spots from the root of the table.

To top it off, the ex-S.League giants have been facing numerous injury woes since the start of the season, as players like Anthony Aymard are still sidelined.

Now that some key players such as Kamel Ramdani and Ahmad Latiff are back in action, Tanjong Pagar would be keen to claim all three points against the Tigers.

The Tigers on the other hand have been very patchy as their past five games have seen them alternately winning and losing games.

A win for Patrick Vallee’s side will see them tie with Geylang International with 13 points while a win for Balestier will draw them closer to sixth placed Hougang United.

Expect the Tigers to enjoy a free-flowing football with lots of short passes and keeping of the ball, as they had 77% of their passes converted accurately and 55% of ball possession in their last S.League game against Woodlands Wellington, according to InStat.

Tanjong Pagar are also no amateurs when it comes to accurate passing, as 76% of their passes were accurate last week.

With Goran Ljubojevic having ten goals to his name so far, it also means that half of the goals Balestier have scored this season so far were by the striker.

Will the former Croatian U-23 International be able to add to his tally or will the ‘slowly-reviving’ Tanjong Pagar put a halt to his form?

Key Men To Watch

Tanjong Pagar United: Ahmad Latiff

It could not have been a better comeback for the former national player as Ahmad Latiff was a rock at the back against Hougang United in the Singapore Cup.

The skipper is also great at initiating counter-attacks, as his accurate long-diagonal passes in switching plays can be expected to disturb the Balestier defence.

Balestier Khalsa: Park Kang Jin

Also a player who recently made a comeback following a long layoff, Park Kang Jin most recently helped his team comfortably defeat Warriors FC in the Singapore Cup by scoring the third goal, which was a peach of a strike.

Having relished 87% of accurate passes, the South Korean would be keen in working with his compatriot Kim Min Ho to combine and bang in the goals for the Tigers.

Tanjong Pagar United – WDLLD

26/5/14    Tanjong Pagar United 1-0 Hougang United (RHB Singapore Cup)

21/5/14    Hougang United 1-1 Tanjong Pagar United

16/5/14    Tanjong Pagar United 1-2 Harimau Muda

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

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

Balestier Khalsa – WLWLW

27/5/14    Warriors FC 1-3 Balestier Khalsa (RHB Singapore Cup)

21/5/14    Balestier Khalsa 1-2 Woodlands Wellington

15/5/14     Balestier Khalsa 3-1 Courts Young Lions

9/5/14       Hougang United 2-1 Balestier Khalsa

30/4/14     Balestier Khalsa 2-0 Harimau Muda

Head to Head (S.League)

13/3/14     Balestier Khalsa 1-0 Tanjong Pagar United

4/11/13     Tanjong Pagar United 0-1 Balestier Khalsa

8/5/13       Balestier Khalsa 2-1 Tanjong Pagar United

22/2/13     Tanjong Pagar United 3-1 Balestier Khalsa

27/10/12   Balestier Khalsa 1-1 Tanjong Pagar United

6/5/12       Tanjong Pagar United 1-0 Balestier Khalsa

17/10/11   Tanjong Pagar United 1-2 Balestier Khalsa

5/7/11        Balestier Khalsa 2-0 Tanjong Pagar United

12/4/11     Tanjong Pagar United 0-1 Balestier Khalsa