[FA Cup] Selangor FA vs Sarawak FA

Sarawak FA face stiff competition as they try to stop the resurgence of Selangor FA, a team known for its impressive line up of trophies which have already decorated its cabinet.

In the FA Cup, Selangor itself has won the trophy five times, which is way more than Sarawak’s single FA Cup glory in 1992.

Selangor’s acquisition of former Perak striker Paolo Rangel is also not something anyone could dismiss with the striker playing one of his best football since he arrived here in Malaysia.

Combined with local former national player, Abdul Hadi Yahya and a few household names in Malaysian football such as Mohd Bunyamin Omar, Abdul Shukur Jusoh, Mohamad Azmi Muslim, and A Thamil Arasu, this side is definitely a side worth not to be taken lightly.

The addition of foreign imports such as free kick specialist Junior Aparecido, brave Steve Pantelidis and Indonesian ‘Messi’ Andik Vermansah only adds depth to the team known as ‘The red giants’ which will face the Crocs this Tuesday. In fact, scouts friendly to SarawakCrocs.com have warned of the ability of Junior whom he feels is ‘the man’ behind Selangor’s good run recently.

The information blends well indeed with the fact that Selangor has yet to taste defeat at its own turf this season, and that the only defeat they have comes from an away fixture against former Super League champions Lions XII at Jalan Besar.

The Red Giants would also be very motivated defend their unbeaten run at their ‘temporary home’, Stadium Petaling Jaya.

In fact, Sarawak have only defeated Selangor once in their ten times of meeting since 2007, a record which Sarawak head coach Robert Alberts needs to change if he wants his team to advance to the next round of the FA Cup.

For Sarawak, the coming match would be another test for its strikers which Roberts have said ‘need to improve’.

Nonetheless, not much change would be expected in the line-up for Sarawak as Robert has stated he would be only looking into replacing his currently injured players, which includes Joseph Kalang, Milorad Janjus, S. Chanturu, Sharol Saperi and Akmal Rizal.

OUR BIASED PREDICTION: SELANGOR FA 0-0 SARAWAK FA [Sarawak to go through after penalties/extra time]