Singapore: Two sides with contrasting ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ records will square off on Thursday when Singapore’s Lion City Sailors FC host Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur City FC at Jalan Besar Stadium.
Lion City endured a difficult start to their Group B campaign, suffering a 2-0 defeat against Bonrneo FC Samarinda on the opening day in Indonesia in August before things went from bad to worse on Matchday Two.
Away in Vietnam against Công An Hà Nôi FC, the Sailors went in 1-0 down at the interval then suffered a disastrous second half as they ended up on the wrong end of a 5-0 scoreline to leave them rooted to the bottom of the table.
Aleksandar Rankovic’s side currently sit second in the Singapore Premier League, three points behind leaders Tampines Rovers but with three games in hand. However, with the league currently on a mid-season hiatus until the upcoming weekend, their only action in recent months has been in the AFC Champions League Two.
And their form in the continental competition was better, with December’s 5-2 win over Thailand’s Port FC – their last competitive match – seeing them into the knockout rounds and they will now look to replicate those kind of performances in the Shopee Cup
KL City, meanwhile, have enjoyed a far better start to their Shopee Cup campaign, picking up two wins from two to sit joint-top of the standings.
Miroslav Kuljanac’s side have been made to work hard for their wins, though, with Haqimi Azim’s early strike enough to edge Kaya FC-Iloilo 1-0 on the opening day in Kuala Lumpur before Brendan Gan’s goal in the final 15 minutes saw them beat Borneo by them same scoreline.
Domestic form has been patchy as they were eliminated from the Malaysia Cup by Johor Darul Ta’zim in their last competitive match while they fell to eighth in the Malaysia Super League before the league took a month-long break in mid-December.
While six points separate Lion City and KL City, the Singaporean side are set to play their first game at home in the Shopee Cup and the Malaysian visitors are on the road for the first time.
Lion City Sailors FC vs Kuala Lumpur City FC
Venue: Jalan Besar Stadium, Kallang
Kick-off: January 9, 7:45PM (Local Time)
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