Buriram: Thailand’s Buriram United will hope to use home conditions to their advantage as they welcome Kaya FC-Iloilo of the Philippines for their second outing in Group B of the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ on Thursday.
The fixture takes on added significance as the Thai champions are still looking for their first points in the inaugural edition of the tournament after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Vietnam’s Công An Hà Nôi FC in their opening match at the Hang Day Stadium on August 22.
It’s been a busy week for head coach Osmar Loss and his Buriram players as they settled for a creditable goalless draw against Japanese champions Vissel Kobe in the AFC Champions League Elite before posting a commanding 6-0 win against PT Prachuap for their sixth win in seven matches in the new Thai League 1 season.
The visitors will have to be particularly wary of the Thai League 1 side’s attacking unit featuring Guilherme Bissoli and Supachai Jaided who have scored 11 league goals between them after seven rounds of the season.
With their defence, manned by the likes of Kenny Dougall and Pansa Hemviboon, having only conceded two goals during that period, the Thunder Castle will be keen to prove their Shopee Cup opening day defeat to 2023 V.League 1 winners was just a blip with a convincing win against the visitors in their second match of the regional showpiece.
Meanwhile, Kaya also began their Shopee Cup campaign with a loss. Still, they gave Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur City FC a good run for their money despite falling to an early Haqimi Azim goal in their opener.
The Filipino side are yet to kickstart their domestic campaign after sealing their second league title in July but they were in action last Thursday when they lost 3-0 to Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima to open their AFC Champions League Two campaign.
Their defence, manned by the vastly experienced Simone Rota and Akito Saito, looked disciplined in the away encounter in Hiroshima and their head coach Yu Hoshide will once again count on them to be solid at the back as they go up against the regional heavyweights.
Robert Lopez Mendy started up front for the Philippines Football League champions against Sanfrecce with Jesus Melliza playing behind the Senegalese striker but Japanese winger Shuto Komaki and Korean defensive midfielder Park Yi-young could return to the Kaya starting line-up in the Shopee Cup.
Kaya will also be boosted by the return of Daizo Horikoshi who was the club’s top-scorer in their maiden PFL-winning season in 2022/23 and the Japanese attacker, who spent the last season with Trat FC in the Thai top division, will be in line to make his Shopee Cup debut on Thursday.
In other Group B fixtures on Matchday Two, Công An Hà Nôi will take on visitors Singapore’s Lion City Sailors FC in Hanoi while Kuala Lumpur City will host Indonesia’s Borneo FC Samarinda.
Buriram United vs Kaya FC-Iloilo
Venue: Buriram Stadium, Buriram
Kick-off: September 26, 7:00 PM (Local Time)
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