Young Lions U23 v Albirex Niigate FC/HOT ODDS/

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Singapore S League			Bet

			1	X	2
12 Oct 12:30	Young Lions U23 v Albirex Niigate FC		2.87	3.30	2.40	+1

odds:www.bet365.com

Odds for home win dropping in singaporean bookie:

1X2 Home Draw Away 2.48 3.15 2.45 <3.25> <3.25> <1.95>

Young Lions vs Albirex Niigata FC (S)
Date & Time:	12 October 2007 7:30:00 PM
Venue:	Jalan Besar
Preview	View Probable Line-Up
Elwyn Lee info@sleague.com The Young Lions will be hoping to reverse a wretched run of form when they entertain Albirex Niigata in Friday's 'live' telecast game at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Coach V Sundramoorthy’s boys are on a whimper of late having lost four and drawn one over the course of their last five matches, allowing the likes of Geylang United and Woodlands Wellington to come close to knocking them off their fifth-placed perch. Japanese side Albirex, although not on a scintillating run of form themselves, will be eager to not fare worse than they did last season when they finished in – and by virtue of that, will be no pushovers as they endeavour to do better than their present eighth position. While both teams are at full-strength at the time of this interview, the slight edge must certainly seem to be with the Japanese who have won one, drawn two and lost two over the past five games. On a statistical note, both teams are tied at a win apiece over each other, Albirex pipping their adversaries 1-0 at the Jalan Besar in April while the Young Lions avenged that loss by a similar margin at Jurong East three months later. The equation is simple for Albirex – win this one and they climb to sixth, leap-frogging two places to nestle below their opponents. Lose, and the teams directly below, Balestier will appear too close for comfort. Similarly for their erstwhile opponents this Friday, Geylang and Woodlands are just below deck on 31 and 29 points respectively, scoring valuable points while the Young Lions have been on a mini-slump. And so while the race at the top culminates in a battle royale with barely any of three table-toppers able to contemplate defeats or draws, a rather interesting contest is also taking place at the lower echelons with the pride of fifth to sixth placings (Gombak United being in pole-positions at fourth) still a reachable objective with some four teams within striking range. Coach Sundramoorthy is well aware of the job that still needs to be done if he wishes no further slip down the table for his Young Lions. “We should be at full-strength with the boys on national duty back. They will add composure and experience to this relatively inexperienced side," said Sundram as he looks forward to the return of the likes of Baihakki Khaizan, Khairul Amri, Fazrul Nawaz and Ismail Yunos. "With the full team coming together for the remaining five games, it is a good situation as we now can fight to retain our current position.” Coach Sundramoorthy will be looking to his key strikers Amri and Fazrul, to prise open the Japanese back-line. The prolific duo have accounted for two-thirds of the 36 goals the Young Lions have achieved to date. Not to be outdone, Albirex’s club manager Bogdan Brasoveanu is relishing the prospect of hitting sixth position with a win over his currently erratic opponents. “We are at full-strength at this point of time, with no suspensions either, so we are going in with confidence in search of a win, no less," said Brasoveanu. "The boys are aware of the need to go all out to win, to achieve our mid-table aim for the end of the season."

MY PICK:
HOME WIN (2.87 in Bet365)

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FT 1-0

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