SINGAPORE - India come to the Choa Chu Kang Stadium in the middle of a patch of great form, and Singapore will have a job to do to keep the visitors out. The Blue Tigers at the end of last year won the ninth edition of the South Asian Football Federation Cup on home turf, demolishing 166th FIFA ranked Afghanistan 4-0 in the final, to make it an impressive six championships from nine.
More recently, in early September of this year, they emerged victorious from the 15th Nehru Cup, which was the third since the competition's revival in 2007. They beat Cameroon B on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the final. This win, which also came on home soil, takes India past Hungary and Iraq to make India the second most successful team in the history of the cup, behind the Soviet Union.
Singapore have been faring less well, with their last competitive win coming in July last year, when they beat Malaysia in a thrilling 5-3 encounter in the Asian section of the World Cup Qualifiers. Since then, they have recorded just two wins, both in friendly matches, but despite this, the bookies expect their home advantage to tell and have made Singapore favourites for the match - while India have impressed at home of late, their results on their travels have been less encouraging.
Singapore are available at longest odds of 11/13 (a £13 bet makes £11 profit) with Bwin. India are the underdogs for the match, and are best priced at 31/10, also with Bwin. A draw looks like the best value in this market, at 5/2 with Bwin; just six places in the FIFA World Rankings separate the teams, and they have played each other just twice before, with the home side winning each encounter.
A 1-1 draw looks fairly likely for the final score, with neither team having a particularly strong strike-force. In Singapore's eight matches this year, they have scored just eight times, and in that same period have let in 17. Singapore's defensive woes might provide an opportunity for India's strikers to capitalise on, but in reality the man most likely to score first plays for Singapore.
Aleksandar Duric is a Bosnian born striker who was naturalised as a Singapore citizen in 2007. The journeyman, who has played for 17 different clubs in his career and is now based in the S. League, playing for Tampines Rovers FC, has made 47 appearances for Singapore in the five years since he gained citizenship. The 42 year old, who stands at 6'4", has found the net 25 times in his time playing for the national team, and is the outlet for almost all of their attacks. His last goal came in the last match he played for The Lions, a 1-1 draw against the Philippines. At his age his career must be starting to wind down, and Singapore will be looking to get the most out of him as they can before he retires.
This match promises to be an exciting affair, as both teams will come into the game confident and with nothing to lose. India will still be on a high after their triumphs of the last year or so, while Singapore will have a big home crowd behind them.
This match kicks off at 19:45 local time (12:45 BST) on Tuesday the 16th of October.
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