Hougang United vs Courts Young Lions

(May 2, Friday, 7.30pm, Hougang Stadium)

Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Aide Iskandar’s Courts Young Lions will take on the tenacious Cheetahs at their home ground, but it will not be as straightforward as it seems.

After capitulating to back-to-back losses against Geylang International and Brunei DPMM, the Cheetahs managed to return to winning ways with a less-than-comfortable 4-3 win over Harimau Muda.

Their foreign signings for this season have been very consistent so far, and have helped the Cheetahs to reside in the upper-half of the table currently.

Midfield maestro Shunsuke Nakataka pulls the strings in the middle of the park with his good passing ability and strength, and he will be looking to provide Geison Moura with ample opportunities through his incisive passing.

Among the 19 goals Hougang has bagged in the league, only three goals belong to local players, namely: Fairoz Hasan, Fazli Jaffar and Nurlhilmi Jasni.

This goes to show how much of an impact the foreigners have made on the Hougang-based club.

The Young Lions on the other hand have lost most of their matches so far, but on paper they have a squad which can rival that of Hougang.

However, the only reason why they have been whipping boys have been their inability to defend against teams, with coach Aide Iskandar hampered the unavailability of several players due to injuries and personal commitments.

It is well-known that some of the players are part-timers and might have other commitments too, and as such Aide might suddenly switch to an unorthodox defence as he did against Albirex when he placed attacker Sherif El Masri as a left-back.

However, the boys have got it in them to at least nick a point off the Cheetahs.

Suspension: Firman Hanif (Hougang United)

Key Men To Watch

Hougang United: Geison Moura

Close to half of the goals Hougang United have scored this season belong to Moura. The striker’s presence was keenly felt in the Cheetahs’ famous 4-2 victory over reigning Champions Tampines Rovers as he scored a brace within just 11 minutes into the game.

The striker’s pace will be a handful for the Young Lions to deal with, and it is more than likely we will see his name on the scoresheet.

Courts Young Lions: Sahil Suhaimi

Having made a successful comeback to the league after failing the mandatory fitness test time and time again, Sahil has proved to everyone how important he is to Aide Iskandar’s side.

The youngster was even given the captain’s armband in their latest match against Warriors FC, when they narrowly lost 3-2 and were close to making a comeback. It was Sahil who scored a stunning free-kick late in the game to reduce the deficit, and he will be looking to bag another once again in their clash with Hougang.

Hougang United – WLLWD

24/4/14   Harimau Muda 3-4 Hougang United

16/4/14   Hougang United 0-1 Brunei DPMM

11/4/14   Geylang International 3-2 Hougang United

5/4/14     Hougang United 4-2 Tampines Rovers

27/3/14   Home United 2-2 Hougang United

Courts Young Lions – LWLLL

24/4/14   Courts Young Lions 2-3 Warriors FC

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

10/4/14   Courts Young Lions 1-2 Albirex Niigata (S)

6/4/14     Brunei DPMM 6-1 Courts Young Lions

26/3/14   Courts Young Lions 2-3 Tanjong Pagar United

Head to Head (S.League)

5/11/13   Courts Young Lions 2-0 Hougang United

7/5/13     Hougang United 1-0 Courts Young Lions

20/2/13   Hougang United 0-3 Courts Young Lions

10/5/12   Hougang United 0-2 Courts Young Lions

17/2/12   Courts Young Lions 0-3 Hougang United

19/7/11    Hougang United 1-1 Courts Young Lions

2/8/11      Courts Young Lions 2-0 Hougang United

14/3/11    Hougang United 1-0 Courts Young Lions