Buoyed by their historic away victory over Adelaide United in the 2026/27 Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Two just a week ago, the Lion City Sailors will be looking to repeat the feat when they welcome the Australian side to the Jalan Besar Stadium for the reverse Group F fixture on Thursday (5 November).

Wounded but determined opponents 

With just one point separating the Sailors and Adelaide at the top of Group F, Thursday’s clash presents an opportunity for the Australian outfit to reclaim top spot. However, they head into the fixture on the back of a difficult run of form.

Since their last ACL Two victory, a 2-1 win over BG Pathum United, Adelaide have suffered three consecutive defeats across all competitions.

Their 2-0 loss to the Sailors was sandwiched between two A-League defeats — a 2-1 reverse against Sydney FC and a more recent 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Perth Glory last Sunday (1 November).

“We are putting whatever happened over the past week behind us and focusing solely on tomorrow night’s game. Our approach is to ensure everyone stays positive and believes in the quality of our team,” said Adelaide Head Coach Airton Andrioli at the pre-match press conference.

“The Sailors are a very good team with plenty of experienced players and a good coach, whom I know from his time in Australia. Our previous game was much closer than many people thought, and we had our chances too. On another day, the result could have been different, so we believe in what we are doing.”

With the Perth Glory fixture marking Adelaide’s third game in eight days, Coach Airton fielded a youthful starting line-up featuring eight players under the age of 23,  the youngest in the club’s history.

Key players Ryan Kitto, playmaker Juan Muñiz and Anselmo de Moraes, who all started against the Sailors, were named on the bench against Perth Glory, with the trio only introduced after half-time.

Adelaide will also be without talismanic forward Craig Goodwin for the trip to Singapore, with the Australian international set to miss the clash due to family reasons.

“Our focus is on the players we have now, as we believe in them. We have plenty of young players who are hungry to play and prove they can compete at this level,” said Coach Airton. “We respect the opposition, but we also know we are a good football team and are more than capable of getting a result.”

Despite a demanding schedule that has seen Adelaide clock up more than 11,000km in travel over the past five days, goalkeeper Joshua Smits insisted that the gruelling stretch would not dampen his side’s determination to reach the knockout stages of an AFC competition for the first time in 14 years.

“Spending so much time travelling by plane is far from ideal,” said Joshua. “I’ve experienced similar situations in Europe where there was also a lot of travelling. However, I learnt to adapt to the training intensity and focus more on the tactical aspects of the game.”

“The humidity here is slightly different from what we’re used to in Australia, but having recently played in Thailand, we know what to expect and are well prepared for it.”

Sailors full of belief 

While the Sailors’ ACL Two campaign began with a frustrating 1-1 home draw against Thai side BG Pathum United, back-to-back away wins over Tai Po FC and Adelaide have since propelled them to the top of Group F.

The Sailors are also beginning to hit their stride under Head Coach Mark Jackson after a challenging start to the season. His side have now won six consecutive matches across all competitions, scoring 21 goals and keeping five clean sheets.

Despite their impressive recent form, Jackson will be keen to ensure his charges remain focused on the task at hand as they look to strengthen their grip on top spot in Group F.

“Playing away from home is never easy, so we are very pleased with what we achieved last week. We’ve been looking forward to playing at home and have prepared well,” said Coach Jackson.

“It’s been a quick turnaround following our trip to Adelaide and the league game, but the players are fully recovered, prepared and excited for the match.

“We’re seeing full buy-in from the players in terms of the way we want to play, and it’s paying dividends on the pitch. Everybody looks at the results, but our performances show that we’re doing a lot of good things. The team’s standards across all aspects of the game are improving, and I’m really pleased with that.”

The Sailors will also be hoping to make home advantage count, with the Jalan Besar Stadium proving to be a happy hunting ground for them in the ACL Two.

They have lost just once in their last eight matches at the venue in the competition, claiming notable victories over the likes of Korea Republic’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and China’s Zhejiang Professional.

Coincidentally, the Sailors’ previous ACL Two outing at Jalan Besar was also against Australian opposition, when they recorded a memorable 2-0 triumph over Sydney FC during their historic run to the final in the 2024/25 campaign.

One of the goalscorers that night was forward Lennart Thy, who has made an immediate impact since returning from injury this season.

The German has found the net in each of his last two appearances off the bench, and will be eager to continue his scoring streak against Adelaide on Thursday.

“Bringing three points back from Adelaide gives us a lot of confidence, as we were able to translate what we’ve been working on in training onto the pitch,” said Lennart. “Football is a day-to-day business, and tomorrow presents another opportunity for us to prove that we can do it all again.

“We want to give the fans our first win on the international stage this season. Their support is important, as there’s no better feeling than winning a game like this at home.”

With another big night of continental football in store at Jalan Besar, the Sailors will be looking to draw inspiration from their home supporters as they seek to take another significant step towards reaching the ACL Two knockout rounds for the second time in their history.

“I want to encourage the fans to come out and support the team tomorrow, as they always do. Their presence makes a big difference and gives our players an extra push,” said the Englishman.

“We’re looking forward to seeing them, and we’ll give everything on the pitch to get the result for them.”