Ha Noi FC take on Tampines Rovers in their third match in Group G of 2017 AFC Cup at the My Dinh National Stadium on Wednesday.
The Vietnamese side are heading into the match on the back of a 1-1 draw against Malaysia's Felda United in their AFC Cup outing last week. On the other hand, Tampines clinched a narrow 1-0 win over their league rivals Balestier Khalsa on Saturday to get back to winning ways after their crushing 5-0 loss to Ceres Negros on 7 February.
Tampines are still placed second despite their defeat to Ceres but another loss will dent their chances of making past the group stages of the ongoing tournament. Skipper Madhu Mohana and veteran Daniel Bennett, who combined well at the back for Singapore during the AFF Suzuki Cup campaign last year, have to step up if they are prevent Ha Noi from running away with the game.
The availability of Raspreet Sandhu and Sahil Suhaimi gives coach Juergen Raab the room to make a few changes to the squad, which has been busy in the last few weeks. All eyes will be on Ivan Dzoni and Son Yong-Chan as well as the two have settled well into the squad and their contribution will be key to the Stags' chances on the road.
On the other hand, Ha Noi have drawn both their games of their AFC Cup campaign this year and a win today will help them leapfrog Tampines to the second spot. However, their recent goal-scoring form is a cause of concern as the V1 League winners have not won a game in their last seven meetings, with six of them being a draw, in which they did not score more than a goal.
TV Schedule
Singapore: Fox Sports 2
Vietnam: Fox Sports 2
Thailand: Fox Sports 2
Malaysia: Fox Sports 2
Team News
Ha Noi
Possible XI: Minh Long; Turong Van, Do Duy, Nguyen Dai, Sam Ngoc; Nguyen Van, Do Hung, Oloya, Nguyen Quang, Arnaud; Cellerino
Tampines
Possible XI: Mahbud; Mukhtar, Mohana, Bennett, Shah; Megumi, Yong-Chan, Sandhu, Hanapi; Dzoni, Suhaimi
