Hong Kong vs Singapore

Mong Kok Stadium forms the backdrop for an exciting international friendly between Hong Kong and Singapore.

The new calendar year couldn’t have come soon enough for Hong Kong, at least based on their underwhelming spell of form down the final stretch of 2022. Not only had they lost four of their six international outings at the tail-end of the last calendar year (W1, D1), but they failed to get on the scoresheet five times in that sequence. However, scoring should not be a problem for Hong Kong in this match-up, considering they’ve found the net in four of their last five meetings with Singapore, going unbeaten in all five (W3, D2). There’s another reason for optimism in the ‘Strength’ camp, as they’ve avoided defeat in their last three outings on home soil (W2, D1), winning two in a row for the first time since a run of three victories in 2017.

On the other hand, Singapore got 2023 off to an abysmal start, succumbing to an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Malaysia in the 2022 AFF Championship, resulting in another group-stage exit. But they had been on a tear before that loss, going unbeaten in five consecutive internationals (W3, D2), three of which had seen them score multiple goals. But playing on hostile turf hasn’t been Singapore’s strong suit by any stretch of the imagination, with Takayuki Nishigaya’s side alternating between losses (3) and wins (2) on their last five travels. Yet with all but one of those five games featuring over 2.5 goals, the Mong Kok Stadium crowd could be in for a treat.