Tampines Rovers vs Home United

(18 November, Saturday, 7.30pm, Our Tampines Hub)

Written by: Rashid Sulaiman

Home United forward Stipe Plazibat will be gunning for goals when they travel to Our Tampines Hub to take on Tampines Rovers in the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League on Saturday night.

With 25 goals to his name thus far, Plazibat trails Albirex Niigata (S)’s Tsubasa Sano by one goal in the goalscoring charts going into this encounter.

That should give the Croatian the motivation to hit the back of the net against Jurgen Raab’s charges as he looks to end the season as the top scorer in the S.League.

“On Saturday, it is our last S.League game of the season and we want to finish this season with a win,” said Plazibat.

“I may not be in pole position for the golden boot but it would be a good achievement if I win it. I will try best and let’s see what happens against Tampines.”

While Plazibat is high in confidence ahead of the match, their previous two meetings against the Stags have seen results going against the Protectors.

The first encounter between the two saw Tampines walk away 3-2 victors in a tightly contested match before a Ryutaro Megumi brace helped Raab’s side cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win in the second meeting.

Both side comes into this match on the back of wins in the previous stage, with Home edging Geylang International 2-1 while Tampines thumped Brunei DPMM 5-0.

“It was a hard fought victory for the team today as we knew Geylang were not going to an easy team to play. But I must give credit to the boys who performed superbly under the rainy conditions,” said Home head coach Aidil Sharin.

“I was disappointed with the manner we conceded the goal shortly after the break, which gave the opponents confidence but the boys bounced back which was important,” added the former Singapore international.

If the Protectors are to shut out the Stags, they would need their custodian Hassan Sunny to continue his fine form between the posts, just like how he performed for the Singapore national team during the international break.

Both teams had a handful of players representing the nation and with this being the final match of the season, they might be resting key players and giving the fringe players a runout

Shamil Sharif will be out for Home due to suspension while Tampines is likely to miss goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud through injury.

Suspension: Shamil Sharif (Home United)

Tampines Rovers – DWWWW

03/11/17 Brunei DPMM 0-5 Tampines Rovers

28/10/17 Tampines Rovers 3-0 Garena Young Lions

23/10/17 Home United 0-2 Tampines Rovers

15/10/17 Geylang International 2-3 Tampines Rovers

20/09/17 Tampines Rovers 1-1 Warriors FC

Home United – WLLWW

04/11/17 Home United 2-1 Geylang International

31/10/17 Home United 4-0 Garena Young Lions

27/10/17 Warriors FC 2-1 Home United

23/10/17 Home United 0-2 Tampines Rovers

20/10/17 Home United 2-0 Balestier Khalsa

Head to Head (S.League)

23/10/17 Home United 0-2 Tampines Rovers

12/05/17 Tampines Rovers 3-2 Home United

10/09/16 Home United 1-0 Tampines Rovers

13/05/16 Tampines Rovers 1-2 Home United

03/03/16 Home United 1-1 Tampines Rovers