Albirex Niigata vs Geylang International

Defending Singapore Premier League champions Albirex Niigata welcome Geylang International at the Jurong East Stadium.

Except for two setbacks against Lion City and Tampines Rovers, it’s been an otherwise almost flawless start to Albirex Niigata’s title defense in the Singapore Premier League. They’ve won nine of their opening 11 league matches (L2) and start this round two points below leaders Tampines, albeit they have a game in hand. Barring a 1-0 loss to non-other than Tampines in mid-March, the ‘White Swans’ have won their remaining five home league fixtures by an aggregate score of 17-4, including the last two in a row by an aggregate scoreline of 8-2. Delivering action from the onset, Kazuaki Yoshinaga’s men opened the scoring in all those five wins, with no side netting more first-half home goals than them (7) thus far.

In the meantime, Geylang scored on either side of halftime to dispatch rock-bottom Young Lions 2-0 on the road last time out, ending a wayward run of three consecutive league defeats. However, barring a brace of wins against the division’s worst-ranked sides, the visitors have gone winless on their four remaining top-flight travels this season (D1, L3), conceding multiple goals in each loss. After letting in 4+ goals on six of their last nine Premier League visits to Albirex (D1, L8) and failing to get on the scoresheet seven times, Mohd Noor Ali’s men are potentially staring down the barrel of another disappointing travel. A slow start would probably put this fixture beyond Geylang’s reach, considering they’ve lost all three away league games after falling behind this term.