Johor Darul Ta’zim vs Petaling Jaya City

Malaysian Super League pacesetters Johor Darul Ta’zim and bottom-half Petaling Jaya City are set to trade tackles at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.

Johor DT’s new Malaysian Super League season has got off to a flying start. Except for a goal-friendly 2-2 home draw with Sri Pahang a fortnight ago, they have won their remaining six league fixtures by an aggregate score of 18-2. Alongside Selangor, the ‘Souther Tigers’ are the only side in Malaysia’s top flight to have smashed the 20-goal milestone this term. It’s worth noting that a clear majority (80%) of those goals have come on home turf (16/20). Indeed, since a 1-0 downing of Penang in their inaugural home league outing, Benjamin Mora’s men have netted 2+ goals in their subsequent four league matches at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, averaging 3.75 per game.

Unlike Johor, travelling Petaling Jaya City head into this round amid a rotten patch, having failed to win their last five Malaysian Super League contests (D3, L2). Despite their underwhelming spell of form, the ‘Phoenix’ have been fun to watch. Their last five league matches have seen both teams on the scoresheet, with three featuring 4+ overall goals. Petaling wouldn’t mind a low-scoring affair for a change, considering they’ve lost their last three competitive visits to Johor by an aggregate score of 8-2. Conceding first would likely spell disaster for the visitors’ hopes of posting their first league win at Johor since August 2018. Maniam Pachaiappan’s lads have gone winless in all five top-flight fixtures in which they fell behind this season (D2, L3).