Barito Putera Vs Persija: The Kemayoran Tigers Want To Sharpen The Victory Record

Marko Simic, the Persija striker who must be wary of Barito Putera (photo: x @Persija_Jkt)

JAKARTA - Persija Jakarta will challenge Barito Putera in the 32nd week League match which will be held at Sultan Agung Bantul on Sunday 21 April 2024 at night. In the head-to-head meeting between the two teams, Persija Jakarta has shown dominance with never losing to Barito Putera in the last eight meetings.

Of the eight matches, the Kemayoran Tigers won 5 wins and drew 5 and lost twice. However, the match between the two teams always lasted fiercely, where Persija almost always won with a narrow score over Barito.

The last meeting between the two teams took place on October 7, 2023, where they drew 1-1. Even though Barito Putera has qualified strength, especially in the defense sector, Persija remains a difficult team to beat. Persija Jakarta's unbeaten record in the last 3 home games has also been a positive capital for the team.

In the last five games, Persija Jakarta has shown quite good performance by scoring a total of 8 goals. They appeared strong, especially in taking advantage of goal opportunities. Their main striker, Marko Simic, along with creative midfielders, has put great pressure on their opponents.

"For us all matches are important matches, and if I'm not mistaken Persija have not won the match against Barito Putera for a long time while playing away there," said Thomas.

According to the German coach, Barito had his own advantage against Persija, because the Kemayoran Tigers had to lose several players who are currently being called up to defend the U-20 national team.

"Currently they need points to improve their position in the standings, while I need to think about who the players will be playing tomorrow, because some of our players have to miss out on being called to the U-23 national team. I will see the progress, hopefully everything will be fine," he said again.

Meanwhile, Barito Putera has had a relatively solid record recently. Despite winning a 1-1 draw against RANS Nusantara and 0-0 against PSIS last time, they previously won 3-1 against PSM Makassar. Barito Putera also has several key players who are able to make differences in the match.

"Starting from the early minutes of the match, don't let your guard down when facing Persija with the material of the players, of course we both know," said Rahmad Darmawan, coach of Barito.

According to RD, both Barito and Persija, must be equally motivated and ambitious to beat each other, to improve rankings in the standings.

Moreover, RD saw Persija in the last match getting one positive result after winning from Persis. "Of course it will be a motivation for them, therefore I continue to remind the players to focus and be vigilant so they don't let their guard down at all," he said.

The match is anticipated to be a fierce battle. Persija Jakarta will try to maintain their positive record against Barito Putera, while Barito Putera will look for opportunities to break the opponent's dominance and achieve positive results. Both teams will definitely play with high intensity in order to get full points.

Persija Jakarta, which is determined to continue their slick record, is expected to achieve full tension at the Sultan Agung Stadium.