MATCH PREVIEW: Battle of the big cats

The battle of the Big Cats - Hougang United vs Balestier Khalsa (credits: Singapore Premier League)

Good morning ladies and gentleman, children of all ages who are the faithful supporters of Hougang United FC. Its been almost two weeks since the Cheetahs played out a league game, and we kinda missed sitting at the stadiums giving out voices out to the team.

THE LAST GAME BEFORE THE BREAK

The last game was action packed for the neutrals. After Daaniel Alemao Henrique managed to net in the equalizer in injury time, we thought we had grabbed a point from a heated contest affair. But Tomoyuki Doi, our former player and top scorer managed to thunder a late winner and left us with no points. Thrice we conceded and came back, but luck wasn't on our side.

The Cheetahs came back three times, but lost to a late winning goal in injury time (credits: Straits Times)

NEXT FIXTURE: HOUGANG NEWS

We were supposed to play a game against Albirex Niigata at Jurong East Stadium on Apr 20. However, due to the upcoming elections, ALL STADIUMS ARE BOOKED for rallies till Polling Day on May 3rd. This game however, is moved to May 13th.

We will welcome back two of our key players, Zulfahmi Ariffin and Stjepan Plazonja. Zul's setpieces we sorely missed against the Eagles, especially at corners. Also Stipe will end his one match suspension, with his speedy runs and floating crosses missed duing the game.

No injuries are reported. We might probably see Stipe replacing Gabriel Quak at the left, and Zul replacing Salihovic in the middle of the pitch.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: BALESTIER KHALSA

The Cheetahs had earned four points this season so far against the Tigers. One win, one draw and one defeat. The last time out we played the Tigers was a 3-1 victory back in February. It was Robert Eziakor's very first game as head coach, and goals from Jovan Mugosa, Stjepan Plazonja and Dejan Racic won Hougang a valuable three points. Madhu Mohana scored the only goal by the Tigers at the stroke of half time.

Balestier had a mixed 2025 so far, their last five games recorded two wins, one draw and two defeats. Their main man Anton Fase hasnt been having a stirling season so far, but the defence duo of Madhu Mohana and Cher Deng can be quite difficult to go through. Besides the Cheetahs had only score 37 goals so far in 27 games - with only two players in double figures.

Let's hope the Cheetahs can win this game. The Tigers are three points behind, but the Tigers have a game in hand and a six goal GD advantage. If Hougang can have a comprehensive 6-0 win, they might leap up to fifth after this game.