BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Matchday four of the Super League (MSL) will be played out this Saturday, with the match at the Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium, Larkin set to pit defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) against Selangor, with both sides having lost their respective last matches.
The home side, the Southern Tigers are looking to regain their confidence following their disappointing mid-week 3-0 defeat to Japan's Gamba Osaka in an AFC Champions League play-off match.
Meanwhile the Red Giants are looking to recover their form following the surprising 5-3 thumping they received at the hands of PKNS FC in the Selangor Derby, in round three last week.
JDT will be eager to edge Selangor, as their record in the league this season is far from impressive, by their standards. Out of two matches, both played at home, they have won one match and drawn the other (their third round match against Kelantan had been postponed). Playing at home again this Saturday must be used by them to earn all the three points.
The visitors meanwhile have recorded one win, one draw and one defeat out of their three matches. A declining pattern can be observed here, so it is very important for the Red Giants to arrest what looks like a slide.
The head-to-head statistics suggest that this match will go JDT's way, with them having won three of their last five matches and the remaining two ending in draws. And out of the last five matches between the two teams at Larkin, two have been won by JDT, one by Selangor, and two ended in draws.
Against Selangor, Argentinian forward Jerónimo Barrales, who had to sit out the Gamba Osaka match due to suspension, is expected to return to the lineup. And not a moment too soon, as JDT will want to exploit the shakiness of the Selangor defence.
JDT head coach Benjamin Mora can also rely on the information provided by former Selangor players Hazwan Bakri, R. Gopinathan, Nazmi Faiz Mansor and Azrif Nasrulhaq, who joined the Tigers last year. Hazwan and Nazmi too will likely be fielded against their former club on Saturday.
Whereas the Red Giants boss Maniam Pachaiappan needs to make several changes to his side, after last week they conceded five goals against a team that had lost both their earlier matches.
Nigerian centre back Ugochukwu Ukah's static performance throughout the whole match against PKNS would have led him to be dropped to the bench if he were at any other team, but the lack of experience and depth in the Red Giants' squad may earn him a reprieve and a place in the starting eleven against JDT.
Selangor's two star youngsters; Adam Nor Azlin and winger Syahmi Safari however may not feature in the match, or at least not start in it. Both of them played the full 90 minutes in Malaysia U22's 3-0 defeat to Vietnam U22 in a friendly match on Tuesday evening.
Thankfully, myMetro reported that goalkeeper Khairul Azhan Khalid has recovered from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him out of the first three matches, in time to take over from Norazlan Razali who played in between the sticks against PKNS.
The Red Giants seemingly will not shoot for the moon this Saturday, simply gunning for a draw according to utility player Veenod Subramaniam.
"We will probably play defensively this Saturday, although this depends on the situation.
"If possible, we want to shock by taking home three points, but a draw will be good enough. What's important is we must avoid losing," said the 28-year old.
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