Sime Darby has never never been an easy task for Sarawak and they will prove to be a hard nut to crack when they Crocs meet them at Stadium Selayang tomorrow.
Although Sime Darby rank lower than the Crocs in the league, their new foreign signings may give them the needed edge to overcome Sarawak whom will have every intention to pick up where they left off before the long three week break.
There’s a lot of motivation for Sime Darby to excel with the fact that Sarawak has been always the stumbling block in their progress in any competition in the Malaysian league, top of their list. Last year, the Crocs halted Sime Darby’s perfect record in the Premier League, which also cost them them the championship, before Sarawak yet again moved on to crush Sime Darby’s hopes of advancing further in the Malaysia Cup a few months later.
This season, Sarawak yet again obstructed Sime Darby‘s hopes of an impressive start in the Super League as they went on to grab the full three points from the club side.
Revenge aside, Sime Darby would be seeking to improve their league standings with a win tomorrow because they know they are just outside the danger zone, and a defeat would see them sink further down, possibly plunging them back to the Premier League next season.
But Stadium Selayang, which is home to Sime Darby is special to Sarawak, and this might make Sime Darby’s task at hand more difficult.
History records that Stadium Selayang is the ‘away home’ for Sarawak because the fans of Sarawak usually fill the stadium to capacity, and one can expect this to continue tomorrow, despite the live telecast on RTM1.
The Crocs therefore would be expected to entertain their fans with top level football as they bring along the best of their squad to Selangor for the clash with Gabor Gyepes certain to make the starting eleven after being sidelined for nearly three weeks.
Influential Muamer Salibasic is expected to start from the bench, with Robert Alberts hinting that he would be resting top scorer S Chanturu for the likes of Hassan Mohamad.
In midfield, Sharol Saperi is expected to dictate play as a defensive midfielder with Junior Eldstal watching from the stands as he serves his suspension.
The goalkeeping department will also be keenly contested with both Fadzley Rahim and Sani Anuar eyeing the spot, but the former has an advantage due to his current outstanding form.
Sime Darby has not beaten Sarawak since 2011, and this dry run might just continue if the Crocs are able to curb the newly signed imports of Sime Darby from opening play.
That said, we believe the Crocs are good enough to see off Sime Darby tomorrow.
OUR BIASED PREDICTION: Sime Darby 0-3 Sarawak
PREDICTED LINE UP: Fadzley R, Gabor G, Ronny H, Ramesh L, Mazwandi Z, Sharol S, Joseph K, Hassan M, Ashri C, Ryan G, Rashid A
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