Tanjong Pagar United vs Hougang United
4 July 2013, 7.30pm
Queenstown Stadium

By Ong Jiing Yih

As the curtains slowly begin to draw towards the climax of the regular season, Tanjong Pagar United enter the month of July with the first of the home triple-headers. Beginning this shall be the visit of the Cheetahs, otherwise known officially as Hougang United.

The earlier encounter at Jalan Besar was a sumptuous feast for the fans who witnessed an exciting clash – the Jaguars' Ismael Benahmed scored twice to cap a brilliant salvage act, thus ensuring his side prevailed 3-2.

Since then, both sides have undergone a contrast in fortunes. While the Jaguars have risen to the lofty perch of third place, the Cheetahs remain in the bottom half. They enter this match on the back of some mixed form with three defeats in their last five matches across all competitions. After overcoming DPMM FC in the league and knocking out Tampines Rovers of the Singapore Cup two weeks later, they have not had the best of luck in another competition in which they finished runners-up in 2011.

Out of the League Cup and given their plight at present, what caretaker tactician Johana Johari and his men can realistically fight for is the Singapore Cup. Tellingly, their last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Woodlands Wellington also marked a winless run in the league that stretches back to May 15th.

However, with the potential threats posed by the likes of Syaqir Sulaiman, Fadhil Salim, Azhar Sairudin, Mamadou Diallo and Nur Hilmi Jasni, no form of ucomplacency and underestimation shall be entertained. Meanwhile, following their soak-and-strike strategy against Home United seven days ago, the hosts can be expected to come out with a different approach. In tandem with Monsef Zerka, Benahmed has been in good scoring form and with recent memory still fresh in the mind, he would be doubly motivated to add onto his tally of seven league strikes to date.