In each of their three league-winning campaigns, Albirex Niigata have always won their first few games of the season to give themselves a good start in the title race.
They now find themselves in an unfamiliar position, however, having to play catch-up in the Singapore Premier League after losing their league opener 1-0 to Geylang International two weeks ago.
Throw in the Community Shield penalty shoot-out defeat to Home United last month, and it is almost unthinkable that the White Swans could lose three in a row if they fall to Brunei DPMM - who have two wins and two clean sheets from two games - at the Jurong East Stadium tonight.
The last time they suffered a hat-trick of defeats was in 2014, when the Brunei team beat them in both legs of the Singapore Cup before they lost to Tanjong Pagar in the League Cup.
On their part, Albirex have been pro-active to remedy their shortcomings.
General manager Koh Mui Tee said they went to Myanmar last week and played friendlies against their national Under-19s and U-22s, which they won 3-1 and drew 0-0 respectively.
He said: "We want to improve our attacking play, and general confidence ahead of the Brunei DPMM game and I feel we achieved our objectives during this trip.
"We scored against the Myanmar U-19s and managed to keep a clean sheet against their U-22s who are a fast and strong side."
Albirex coach Keiji Shigetomi was pleased to note that his attacking trio - pacey Daizo Horikoshi, and technically accomplished Hiroyoshi Kamata and Kyoga Nakamura - had a good outing in Myanmar.
Shigetomi said: "We didn't score in our first two games (this season) but we created a number of chances and that is a good thing.
"Against Geylang, we hit the post twice and had a shot cleared off the line.
"You could say we were unlucky, but we have to improve our accuracy, the delivery of the final ball, as well as decision-making.
"We continued to create against the Myanmar teams and this time Horikoshi scored once and Kamata scored twice so that is good for the confidence of the individuals and the team.
"At the other end, we conceded just once in two games against Home and Geylang, and that was from a corner.
"This means our defence actually held firm in open play and we did not give opponents many chances, so I feel our defence is quite stable overall."
While Albirex aim to get off the mark tonight, Shigetomi recognises the threat after the Brunei side's perfect start to the season.
He added: "This year, DPMM have three new imports in defence, midfield and attack (Englishman Charlie Clough, Australian Blake Ricciuto and Belarusian Andrey Varankow) who are strong, physical and dangerous during set plays.
"Their local players have been together in the team for many years, so they have good chemistry and we have to be careful of them too.
"But we are going for our first win of the season and we want to continue playing our own game, staying solid in defence and relying on good combination play to break down opponent's defence to achieve our objectives."
Get more information about QATAR at straitstimes.com. Skip to main content. Toggle navigation The Straits Times Qatar's Asian Cup heroes rewarded with lavish gifts. Feb 8, 2019, 5:00 am.
NBA would have fined Pelicans $100K a game if they sat a
worldsportstale.com/nba/nba-would-have-fined-pelicans-100k-a-game-if-they-sat-a-healthy-anthony-davis-report-says/
Qatar's Asian Cup heroes rewarded with lavish gifts. NFL News. Bart Starr: Packers QB Brett Favre gives touching tribute to a Green Bay legend.
AFC Asian Cup 2019: How Park Hang-seo rejuvenated football in
Shop for the Sterling by Music Man S.U.B. Ray4 Electric Bass Guitar and receive free shipping on your order and the guaranteed lowest price.
GOLTV is a Soccer focused Cable network which serves both the English and Spanish speaking soccer fans in the United States. GolTV USA - Solskjaer aims to replicate spirit of '99 at Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes to replicate the spirit of Manchester United's treble-winners at Old Trafford as he plots a route back to the top for
LONDON -- Maurizio Sarri backed Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen to be the foundation of Chelsea for years to come after all three academy graduates performed
Maurizio Sarri on Callum Hudson-Odoi's prospects of starting
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has said he considers himself and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo to be on a different level to the rest of the players in the world. Messi was asked about who he
Top 10 Most Expensive Football Players in the World 2019
Malta were happy to sit back on the edge of their area and defend for most of the game, but the visitors found a way through in the 31st minute when Morata latched onto a long ball and sent his
Morata double gives Spain victory over Malta - sports.yahoo.com
Legit.ng News ★ Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says playing in the Europa League next season is good for Manchester United. The Red Devils were condemned to competing in the UEFA second tier championship after being held to a 1-1 draw by Huddersfield
"The Europa League is the right place for Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his "confident" side could stage a Champions League fightback at Paris Saint-Germain this week after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Southampton on Saturday.
Football, bloody hell!' - Solskjaer's Man United miracle in
Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao - Press Conference FULL VIDEO - Face Off 3/11.15 Mauka Mauka (Quarter Finals Ka Mauka) - ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 UFC 185 Embedded: Vlog Series - Episode 5
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has urged his players to give "every fibre of their bodies" in the battle for the Premier League title. Manchester City moved to the top of the league on Wednesday for the first time since December after Klopp's side limped to back-to-back draws against Leicester City and West Ham United.
Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will fight with every fibre for
Football Athletics Rugby Golf Others Pogba deletes cryptic post after Mourinho axed Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba quickly deleted a controversial social media post of him smiling
Pogba deletes cryptic post after Mourinho axed - SuperSport
adtest.supersport.com/football/premier-league/news/181219/Pogba_deletes_cryptic_post_after_Mourinho_axed
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba quickly deleted a controversial social media post of him smiling after manager Jose Mourinho was sacked by the club on Tuesday. Mourinho was dismissed on Tuesday after United's worst start in 28 years left them trailing Premier League leaders Liverpool by 19 points.
'Caption this': Pogba deletes cryptic post after Mourinho axed
Cardiff City recorded a second consecutive win in the Premier League and Sol Bamba and Neil Warnock dedicated victory to Emiliano Sala. Both Sol Bamba and Neil Warnock were proud to have won for
Gareth Bale '100 per cent committed' to Real Madrid and wants to end career with club, says agent. The Wales international is available this summer but has expressed a desire to remain in Madrid
This program is read by Richard Armitage. With a final twist that will shock even his most ardent listeners, Heads You Win is #1 New York Times bestseller Jeffrey Archer's most ambitious and creative work since Kane and Abel. Leningrad, Russia, 1968. Alexander Karpenko is no ordinary child, and
Everton 1-0 Man Utd - Fellaini Heads Toffees To Surprise Win
Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has been appointed as manager of Oldham Athletic, the club announced on Monday. Scholes, 44, is taking on his first managerial role
Football: Man United great Scholes appointed manager of
0 comments:
Post a Comment