Persija Jakarta vs Arema Malang
Persija Jakarta is scheduled to host Arema this weekend at the Bung Karno Main Stadium. They were determined to win even though the visitors had just beaten Persib Bandung the previous week. The match was held on Saturday (3/8).
Eduardo Perez, Persija assistant coach, revealed that his side had observed Arema’s last two matches and concluded that they must be wary of the whole line. This season, Singo Edan has been strengthened by a number of offensive players, such as Sylvano Comvalius, Dendi Santosi, Dedik Setiawan, Rivaldi Bauw, and Makan Konate so that the threat to create goals is not only created from attack lines. They are also in high confidence after pulverizing Persib Bandung with a score of 5-1 Tuesday (7/30) then at the Kanjuruhan Stadium.
However, a visit to the Persija headquarters will present a different challenge, it has been proven by the last two trials which culminated in a 2-0 and 3-1 victory for the hosts. In addition, the Arema away report card this season is still far from the ideal word because it only won 1 time against Semen Padang, while the rest lost to PSS Sleman, Pusamania Borneo, and Madura Utd.
On the other hand, tomorrow’s match will be the third home match for Persija in League 1 after the win over PSS Sleman, then play draw with Persib Bandung. Their concentration will be divided because they have to face PSM Makassar in the Indonesia Cup 2 leg final on Tuesday (6/8). Obviously, the gap will try to be used by Arema, who currently occupies the top 4 position with a collection of 18 points from 10 matches, leaving Persija in 17th place with a collection of 6 points from 7 matches. If you observe the various facts above, then the draw is fairer for both sides.
Our Prediction: Draw