Singapore vs Maldives

Bishan Stadium sets the stage for the first international friendly between Singapore and the Maldives since December 2022. 

Singapore’s third international fixture in 2025 is also an ideal opportunity for the Lions to arrest a dreadful six-game winless streak dating back to December 2024 (D2, L4). Despite being heavily fancied by the bookies, Tsutomu Ogura’s men must address their well-documented scoring woes to dig themselves out of trouble. In addition to firing blanks against Nepal (0-1) and Hong Kong (0-0) earlier this year, they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in four of their last five outings. If it’s any consolation, they kept two clean sheets during that barren run, albeit conceding 2+ goals in two of the other three matches. Confidence stems from Singapore’s 100% win ratio in three meetings with Maldives this century – all of which saw them score 3+ goals.

In the meantime, it’s been a rough start to 2025 for the Maldives as they followed up a dismal 3-0 loss to India with a 4-1 rout at the hands of the Philippines, making it six defeats from their last eight internationals (W1, D1). It’s worth mentioning that those eight fixtures spanned over the past two years, testifying to a notorious lack of competitive form and match fitness. Playing on the road often spells trouble for the Red Snappers, as they carry an underwhelming three-game losing away streak into this trip. Furthermore, their fragile backline capitulated at least twice in each defeat, conceding an average of three goals per game.