STALLION-Sta. Lucia seeks to regain the top spot against a Green Archers United side that is still in danger of relegation in the United Football League on Thursday night at the Emperador Stadium in Taguig.
The second-running Stallions, who are in a close three-way battle with Global and Loyola Meralco for the leadership, take on the eighth-ranked Archers in the main Division 1 match at 7:30 p.m.
Cellar-dwelling Philippine Air Force hopes to get out of its slump and into the win column as it faces seventh-running Nomads earlier at 5:15 p.m.
The Stallions ended the first round on top after a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Sparks last week, but yielded the lead after Global’s 2-0 victory over PSG last Tuesday.
Led by foreign standouts in Spanish Rufo Sanchez and Korean Lee Joo Young -- two of the league’s top scorers -- the Stallions are heavily favored against the Archers, whom they beat, 3-1, in their first meeting.
But the Archers should not be taken lightly as they hope to keep the momentum of their 2-1 decision over Nomads in a game that snapped a three-game skid and moved them away from the two bottom spots in the standings.
Chieffy Caligdong, who scored the Archers’ two goals against Nomads, refused to think about relegation.
“Hindi namin iniisip yun,” the Azkals homegrown star said. “Yung sa amin `yung paano namin i-continue playing like in our last game against Nomads.”
“Yung concentration, focus dapat nandoon para sa game. May chance pa kami na humabol sa fifth (spot),” added the Ilonggo winger, whose team, though, remains eight points behind fifth-running Kaya.
The Airmen, Caligdong’s former team, hope to finally register their first win this season against a Nomads side that has been slowly bumped down the standings due to recent strong showings from Kaya, Pachanga, and PSG, respectively.
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