Madura United vs Bali United

Gelora Ratu Pamelingan Stadium forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering top-four Indonesia Liga 1 six-pointer between Madura United and Bali United.

Lulinha’s second-half winner inspired Madura United to a precious 1-0 victory at PSS Sleman a few days ago, halting their torrid run of three winless league matches on the trot (D1, L2). Despite their rough patch of late, the ‘Sape Kerrab’ are still in the running for the title, with top-placed PSM Makassar only two points clear at the start of this round. But to close the gap, Madura will have to defy their recent home struggle against Bali United, as they’ve won none of their last three top-flight H2Hs at the Gelora Ratu Pamelingan Stadium (D1, L2). On a more positive note, Fabio Lefundes’ team had won each of their five opening home league matches this season before slumping to a morale-crippling 3-0 defeat to PSIS Semarang last time out.

As for Bali United, a 3-0 demolition of bottom-half underachievers Bhayangkara Solo at home in the previous Liga 1 round solidified their bid to defend the crown, keeping them one point adrift of table-toppers PSM Makassar. The ‘Tridatu Warriors’ couldn’t have timed their rise to prominence any better, going from back-to-back league defeats to consecutive victories right in time for this blockbuster fixture. Bali’s recent upturn in form will strengthen their hopes of registering two top-flight H2H wins in a row for the first time since 2019. Interestingly, the last five Liga 1 meetings between Bali and Madura have fluctuated between victories (3) and defeats (2) for the Stefano Cugurra’s men, with four seeing the winner on the day record a shutout.