Tanjong Pagar United vs Warriors FC

(April 10, Thursday, 7.30pm, Queenstown Stadium)

Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Eight-time Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League champions Warriors FC will be looking to bury the ghost of 2013 when they lost all three league matches to Tanjong Pagar United, including a 6-1 hammering during early season.

It has been a totally different story this year as the Warriors have started the season brightly to leave them sitting comfortably in second spot, just two points behind league leaders Tampines Rovers.

The Jaguars however are constantly getting inflicted with losses after losses and have only won two games so far.

Warriors will be welcoming Hassan Sunny back to the squad following his two-match suspension. Making waves is Miroslav Pejc who has formed a telepathic understanding with Nicolas Velez and Hafiz Rahim in the final third and scored six goals for the club.

While the Warriors is targeting the championship, leaving the undesirable bottom-three region would be the only thing in their opponents’ minds as Patrick Vallee will be hoping that his players put out a decent performance and collect valuable points.

The Jaguars will be looking at former Moroccan international Monsef Zerka to continue his scoring streak after he opened his account this season with a hat-trick against Courts Young Lions.

With seasoned campaigner Ahmad Latiff still recovering from a double knee surgery, Vallee will be relying on Ruzaini Zainal and Firdaus Idros to marshall the midfield area alongside Sebastian Etiemble, who has been effective in pulling the strings in midfield.

Although Tanjong Pagar have bagged seven goals so far this season, two of them were own goals and the team has to start dividing the goal-scoring reliance to other players and not only Zerka, who has scored three goals.

The other goal scorers are Masrezwan Masturi and Etiemble, who have one goal apiece and will be searching for more if the chance permits.

Key Men To Watch

Tanjong Pagar United: Asraf Rashid

One positive take-away from Tanjong Pagar United’s most recent loss to Albirex Niigata (S) was the smooth transition from defence to attack, and the player who was most efficient in ensuring that was Asraf.

Apart from that, the midfielder was consistently whipping in pin-point crosses into the danger area. Although none of his cross led to a goal then, he would be continuing his duties from the flanks this Thursday with hopes that Zerka and company may convert them.

Warriors: Miroslav Pejic

Six goals in six games and Pejic is sharing the lead in the goalscoring charts together with Geison Moura, Rodrigo Tosi and Miljan Mrdakovic from Hougang United, Brunei DPMM and Tampines Rovers respectively.

He has been hitting the back of the net once every game in average, and many believe there is more to come from the Croatian. The precise first-touch of his makes it very hard for every defender to even get a touch on the ball.

Tanjong Pagar United – LWLLL

4/4/14       Albirex Niigata (S) 2-1 Tanjong Pagar United

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

21/3/14    Tanjong Pagar United 0-1 Woodlands Wellington

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

27/2/14    Tanjong Pagar United 1-2 Hougang United

Warriors FC – WDWWL

3/4/14      Warriors FC 1-0 Woodlands Wellington

28/3/14    Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Warriors FC

20/3/14    Warriors FC 2-0 Hougang United

12/3/14    Warriors FC 3-0 Harimau Muda

28/2/14    Brunei DPMM 2-0 Warriors FC

Head to Head (S.League)

18/5/13    Tanjong Pagar United 2-1 Warriors FC

27/2/13    Warriors FC 1-6 Tanjong Pagar United

24/8/12    Warriors FC 0-1 Tanjong Pagar United

23/3/12    Tanjong Pagar United 1-3 Warriors FC

11/8/11    Warriors FC 4-0 Tanjong Pagar United

11/5/11    Tanjong Pagar United 2-2 Warriors FC

23/2/11    Warriors FC 2-1 Tanjong Pagar United