Singapore Premier League • June 10, 2014
Protectors Aim To Tame Young Tigers
Home United vs Harimau Muda
(June 10, Tuesday, 7.30pm, Bishan Stadium)
Written by: Kenneth Ho
Cellar-dwellers Harimau Muda make a visit to the Bishan Stadium to play Home United as they look to get away from the bottom of the table.
The Young Tigers have been stuck to the root of the table for almost all season so far, due to the ten consecutive games they lost at the start of the season.
Harimau are only two points away from Courts Young Lions and a win for them will see them overtake the latter. However, this will be no easy task, especially since their opponents will be the title chasers Home.
The hosts are easily the more dangerous team with the abundance of attacking talents they have at their disposal, especially with the effervescent Lee Kwan Woo pulling the strings in midfield and providing the ammunition to the forwards.
This point was exemplified in the 3-2 win over DPMM, when Home saw Qiu Li grabbing a brace while Bruno Castanheira scored too. In the event that neither are able to pop up with the goals, there will be the services of Yasir Hanapi, Fazrul Nawaz and or Indra Sahdan to call upon.
A point should be the target for the visitors, and they will do well to play a defensive game to achieve that.
Suspensions: Ramdhan Hamid (Harimau Muda).
Key Men To Watch
Home United: Lee Kwan Woo
This is repeatedly becoming the first name to look out for in fixtures, but this should not be a surprise given the class which oozes from this former South Korean international.
The Korean was the best attacking midfielder in the previous round, as he racked up an InStat score of 117.
By his high standards, Lee admittedly was not at his best in completing passes, with only 58% of them being successful. However, a closer scrutiny will show that he still managed to make three key passes out of five, as well as find his man in the box most of the time. One of those passes turned out to be the assist which allowed Qiu Li to grab his second goal.
Similarly, this will prove crucial in allowing the forwards to have a chance at shooting from close range, and Harimau must pay close attention to him.
Harimau Muda: Marjoni Sabil
Against the Warriors, the left-back was arguably the best defender for Harimau according to Instat. The defender won 71% of his challenges in defence, with 78% of his tackles being successful.
He may be one player, but at least Harimau can count on Marjoni to at least shut down the threat of whoever is playing on the right flanks for Home.
Home United – WWWDD
06/06/14 Brunei DPMM 2-3 Home United
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
Harimau Muda – LLLWW
05/06/14 Harimau Muda 2-4 Warriors FC
29/5/14 Harimau Muda (5) 1-1 (6p) (AET) Tampines Rovers
23/5/14 Harimau Muda 1-4 Albirex Niigata (S)
16/5/14 Tanjong Pagar United 1-2 Harimau Muda
7/5/14 Harimau Muda 1-0 Woodlands Wellington
Head to Head (S.League)
23/3/14 Harimau Muda 0-3 Home United
26/8/13 Home United 4-0 Harimau Muda
20/4/13 Harimau Muda 0-1 Home United
15/9/12 Harimau Muda 0-3 Home United
8/4/12 Home United 2-1 Harimau Muda