Centre-back Shuhei Sasahara has been a key cog in Albirex Niigata FC (S)’s watertight defence.

SINGAPORE, 13 JULY 2018 – Having lost two head-to-head encounters this season courtesy of last-gasp goals, Tampines Rovers FC are bent on revenge this Saturday evening, 14 July as they seek to become the first team in 2018 to stop Albirex Niigata FC (S) from collecting full points. The Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SPL) match will kick off at 5.30pm at Jurong East Stadium.

BACKGROUND There are three certainties in life – death, taxes and Albirex winning football matches.

Week after week, the White Swans continue to show why they deserve to be at the top by conquering every challenge ahead of them.

Warriors FC pushed them hard the last time out, but they still emerged 2-0 winners at home to collect their 15th consecutive win of the season and maintain their 100 per cent record.

Kazuaki Yoshinaga’s men are now edging ever closer to a third successive league crown. In fact if they beat Tampines on Saturday, they could seal the title next Wednesday by beating Young Lions while hoping Tampines lose to Brunei DPMM FC on the same night.

However, left-back Kenya Takahashi refuses to count the chicks before they hatch, with Tampines proving to be a tough nut to crack this season. In the two head-to-head encounters this season, they required late goals to collect three points.

In the season-opening Community Shield at the National Stadium in late March, it was Shuhei Hoshino’s 89th-minute strike that won them the game 2-1.

In another epic match at Our Tampines Hub in mid-May, Tampines came from behind thrice to level before Daiki Asaoka’s long-range rocket in the dying moments sealed a 4-3 win.

“As the (perfect) record goes on longer, there is more pressure to succeed but we will do our best in all our games,” said Takahashi.

“We conceded three against Tampines the last time and we have to concede lesser goals this time in order to win the game. It’s important that we try not to be defeated in one-versus-one situations and stop them from putting in crosses.”

With 16 points separating the two sides from first and second, Tampines Captain Fahrudin Mustafic admits the table does not make for pretty reading.

“We came so close to (holding) Albirex two times this season, but we lost to last-minute goals. Maybe luck’s not our side, but look – they won 15 games in a row and we got to give them credit for that,” said the 37-year-old.

“However Saturday is a brand new game – we really want to show and prove that we can at least get points from them. To be honest for me personally, it will be shameful if they really win all the games this season. So we will try to play for pride and I believe we can do something.”

It will be easier said than done – Albirex are on an incredible run of 34 straight victories at their Jurong East den and Tampines have not won any of their past eight encounters with the Japanese.

The last time the Stags prevailed in this fixture, it was a 5-1 victory in a meaningless final game of the 2016 season where both sides had already guaranteed their positions.

TEAM NEWS
The big miss for Albirex is key centre-back Kaishu Yamazaki, who is ruled out for the rest of the campaign due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Fellow centre-back Shun Kumagai made the bench against Warriors after a long lay-off and could see some minutes.

As for Tampines, they will miss the suspended duo of Irfan Najeeb and Yasir Hanapi. Main forward Khairul Amri sustained an ankle injury in last Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Home United FC, but is expected to be fit.

FORM GUIDE
Albirex: WWWWW
Tampines: LWWLD

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
20/05/18: Tampines 3-4 Albirex – Singapore Premier League
31/03/18: Albirex 2-1 Tampines – Singapore Premier League
19/08/17: Albirex 4-0 Tampines – Singapore Premier League
13/08/17: Albirex 2-0 Tampines – Singapore Premier League
10/08/17: Tampines 1-5 Albirex – Singapore Premier League

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR
Shuhei Sasahara – Albirex
Kumagai’s early-season injury paved the way for Sasahara to break into the first team and he has not looked back since. With Yamazaki unavailable for the rest of the year, the 21-year-old is now the lynchpin of the White Swans defence and his assured defending will make it hard for Tampines to find the breakthrough.

Ryutaro Megumi – Tampines
It has been an odd season for Megumi as he has failed to replicate the heights of his debut campaign in 2017, despite mustering decent numbers (four goals and five assists). Having not netted in his last seven matches, the 25-year-old owes a big performance to the Stags against his compatriots.

WHAT ELSE THEY SAID
Albirex defender Takahashi: “We’re close to winning the title and it’s important for us to seal it early, so that it provides us with the confidence to do well in the upcoming Singapore Cup. The support from our home fans has been fantastic and because of them, we are able to do well at Jurong East.

“As for myself, I feel that Head Coach has helped me to improve in my defensive play tactically as you know I was a forward in high school. I try to model myself after Marcelo, as you can see he does the job well in defending as well as in attacking, by bringing the ball forward and putting in great crosses for his team mates.”

Tampines defender Mustafic: “Nothing is done yet and it’s still a long way to go with nine more games. After losing to DPMM and drawing against Home, we really have to push ourselves to start winning again. Looking at the table, Home and DPMM are most likely to push us all the way so we really need to secure second.

“The schedule is tight, with games every four days. Thus it’s important to have a squad with good players on the bench who are ready to come in and replace the first eleven. We are ready for a strong performance against Albirex.

“After losing to them twice in the last minute, I really don’t mind beating them in the last minute – hopefully that will happen.”

Get your tickets for ALL Singapore Premier League games at fas.org.sg/tickets/ and watch Tampines try to take down Albirex at fas.org.sg/live2!