The Cheetahs will once again return to the television near you, for a live S-League fixture at Jalan Besar Stadium this coming Friday, when they take on Woodlands Wellington.
Hailed as the “Noisy Derby”, due to the passionate and fervent support of both teams. The Hougang Hools and the Black Sheep will add on to the matchday atmosphere for this upcoming game.
The Cheetahs have a good record for the past two years; two wins, a draw and a defeat facing the Rams, who have been cellar dwellers for the past two seasons. However, this season, the Rams are a different team altogether, with the addition of Khaled Hamdaoui, Yazid Yasin, Rosman Sulaiman, Taufiq Rahmat and Atsushi Shimono. However, the Cheetahs will find a certain Shariff Abdul Samat familiar in the Rams’ backline. Shariff, a former Hougang club favourite, and also Cheetahs’ former captain, will be looking to lock horns with his former employers.
However, with the good form of the Cheetahs’ backline, especially with Syaqir Sulaiman, who tends to join in the attacks during set-pieces, has been the strengths for the Cheetahs this season. Apart from that, Fadhil Salim has been in hot form this season, with three penalty saves in two games. However, with the good defense show for the Cheetahs, they have conceded four goals so far in three games and will be looking to add more firepower upfront.
The Cheetahs will be looking to hide their disappointment in the previous match against Albirex by going for maximum points for this. They huffed and puffed for the last game, but they just could not find the net past Albirex. For this fixture, they will still be missing their influential captain, Lau Meng Meng, due to his red card against DPMM FC. Jerome Baker remains a doubt for this game, unless he shrug off his troubled calf. Facing a very confident Rams side after their wonderful slaughtering of Home United, this would be a dynamite display of both teams showing their attacking prowess.
