{"id":22381,"date":"2020-03-07T22:25:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T13:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/?p=22381"},"modified":"2020-03-07T22:25:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T13:25:35","slug":"malaysia-super-league-2020-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/2020\/03\/07\/malaysia-super-league-2020-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia Super League 2020 Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Omar Zin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Football Tribe Malaysia<\/p>\n

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Predicting Malaysia Super League is never an easy job but as the league kicks off this week, it becomes clear as to who will be champion and who will be relegated this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

This season, all 12 teams will be categorized to title challengers, mid-table teams and relegation contenders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Football Tribe brings you the predictions:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Title challengers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Johor Darul Ta’zim <\/strong>– Arguably the strongest team in the league, this season they have added former Kedah midfielder Liridon Krasniqi and Pahang captain Matthew Davies and a new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium. After winning six league titles in a row, they are expected to win for the seventh time this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kedah<\/strong> – The Red Eagles could seriously challenge JDT in the league at the moment after adding two strike-force Kpah Sherman and Kipre Tchetche who scored more than 50 goals between them last season. They also added former Ratchaburi midfielder, Amin Nazari and national defender Irfan Zakaria. If they can find a way to be consistent in the entire season, they might nick the title after all.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Selangor <\/strong>– The Giants are trying very hard to return to their former glory. Under new management, its a breath of fresh air for Selangor especially after signing national team star Brendan Gan and Singaporean player Safuwan Baharudin. They impressively finished in 3rd place last season, despite boasting no big-name players. That is something they want to emulate this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Perak<\/strong> – They were surprised by the sudden departure of Brendan Gan and former captain Nasir Basharudin in pre-season, but later gained momentum by the signing of lethal striker Guilherme de Paula, Cambodian international Thierry Chantha Bin and Australian defender Anthony Golec. Their coach Mehmet Durakovic aimed to be in the top 3 this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mid-table teams<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Terengganu<\/strong> – Like Perak, they were left disappointed by the departure of top striker Kipre Tchetche but they have always been known as dark horses in the league, despite not winning a single for almost 10 years. The return of midfield wizard Faiz Nasir and the arrival of three new foreign imports, striker Dominique da Sylva, Singaporean forward Faris Ramli and defender Boubacar Diallo, as well as former JDT players Darren Lok and D. Saarvindran, gives a sense of optimism to the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pahang<\/strong>– This is probably the team that suffered the most in the recent transfer window, as a majority of their key players left including the most heartbreaking departure of their captain Matthew Davies. Despite that, they have been strengthened by former Chainat Hornbill midfielder, Adam Reed, striker Ivan Carlos and AFC Cup 2019 winner, Khalil Khamis. While the coach Dollah Salleh said he is not aiming for any trophies this year, only time will tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Melaka <\/strong>– One of the most inconsistent teams last year, the side could be in mid-table again after losing their top scorer Patrick Reichelt. He has been replaced by another top center-forward, Uche Agba. Also joining them Nakhon Ratchasima midfielder Naruphon Putsorn, Sukhothai midfielder Curran Ferns from the Thai League, and duo Romel Morales and Khair Jones. Safiq Rahim is expected to be their star this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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PJ City <\/strong>– This team only retained eight players from the previous season, and with a brand new team, their coach K. Devan is aiming for the top five. Mark Hartmann is one of their surprising signings. Veteran striker Safee Sali will be pleased to see former national teammates K. Gurusamy, Mahali Jasuli and P. Gunalan joining the team. However, it is worth noting that they don’t have a single experienced goalkeeper this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Relegation contenders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Felda United <\/strong>– The only side to survive from relegation on the final matchday last season, their young coach Nidzam Jamil impressed many by relying on tactics and promoting youngsters despite having one of the least appealing sides. This season they could be struggling again, but at least they are not the worst team anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sabah <\/strong>– 2nd division champions last season, the side have appointed Indonesian coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto to spearhead the team. They have added former national defender Zubir Azmi, Chainat’s Thai-German striker Dennis Buschening, South Korean defender Park Tae-soo and veteran goalkeeper, Wan Azraei Wan Teh. On paper, they might be destined for relegation, but there is a chance that the promoted side could fend off the drop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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PDRM –<\/strong> The side begins on minus 3 points after failing to settle unpaid salaries, which does not bode well for them. They also only have three foreign players including the controversial striker Antonio German. With the team having a full-time police officer as one of their players, we have to see how are they going to survive the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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UiTM FC <\/strong>– They are the only university-based team to play in the top-flight this year. They appointed former Malaysian U23 coach Frank Bernhardt. They also managed to sign AFC Cup 2019 winner Rabih Ataya and former Shrewsbury Town midfielder, Ousmane Fane. Other than a few experienced players, the majority of the team are university players, and will likely struggle severely this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Omar Zin Football Tribe Malaysia   Predicting Malaysia Super League is never an easy job but as the league kicks off this week, it becomes clear as to who will be champion and who will be relegated this season. This season, all 12 teams will be categorized to title challengers, mid-table teams and relegation contenders. Football Tribe brings you the predictions:   Title challengers Johor Darul Ta’zim – Arguably the strongest team in the league, this season they have added former Kedah midfielder Liridon Krasniqi and Pahang captain Matthew Davies and a new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium. After winning six league titles in a row, they are expected to win for … Continue reading “Malaysia Super League 2020 Predictions”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":22382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,26],"tags":[65,1707,64,633,724,95],"class_list":["post-22381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-malaysia","category-southeast-asia","tag-johor-darul-tazim","tag-kedah-fa","tag-malaysia","tag-malaysia-super-league","tag-selangor-fa","tag-slider"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22381"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22385,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22381\/revisions\/22385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}