Tampines Rovers take on Bali United in Asian Champions League.

Less than 2 months after Al-Hilal won the 2019 Asian Champions League, the preliminary stage of the 2020 ACL kicks off in Singapore tomorrow with Tampines Rovers taking on Indonesian Liga 1 champions Bali United. Singaporean sides don't have the greatest recent record in the Asian Champions League having failed to get past this first qualifying round since 2015. Last year Home United were knocked out at this stage by Indonesian opposition and the last three times that Tampines entered this stage of the tournament they lost, including a 3-1 defeat to tomorrow's opponents in 2018.

2019 Singapore Cup winners, Tampines, qualified for this year's Asian Champions League after finishing second in the Singapore Premier league. It was a season of ups and downs, characterised by inconsistency in the league and a disappointing exit at the AFC Cup group stage, that ended positively with the victory in the cup final. One of the architects behind the arguably successful campaign, Japanese winger Ryutaro Magumi, has left to join Malaysian team Felda United but Tampines fans will be delighted that they have managed to keep hold of 2 of the attacking trio that caused so many teams problems last year, Jordan Webb and young Serbian attacking midfielder, Zehrudin Mehmedovic. Tampines have further strengthened their midfield with the signing of Japanese playmaker Kyoga Nakamura who captained Albirex Niigita to a fourth place finish in last year's SPL. This strength in the middle of the pitch may again limit promising youngster Joel Chew to cameo appearances off the bench but expect Chew to cause Bali trouble if he gets on the pitch tomorrow. The signing of Nakamura certainly captured the attention of local fans and media alike but it is perhaps another signing, one that has almost gone unnoticed, (especially by me) that could pose the biggest problem for Bali tomorrow. Montenegro striker Boris Kopitovic, who at 1.89m will be looking to get on the end of the high number of crosses that Tampines put into the box. Kopitovic scored 8 times in the Montenegro league last year but I have to admit I know little more than that, I'm looking forward to seeing him in action tomorrow.

Tampines Rovers will be keen to begin this season's continental campaign positively with victory over Bali United, who stormed to the Indonesian Liga 1 title last season. Bali finished 10 points ahead of the second place team and there was rarely any doubt that they would win the league. The well supported Indonesian team had the 3rd highest attendance in ASEAN last season and are likely to be backed by a vocal following tomorrow. Bali United captain Fadil Sausu may be 34 years old but expect him to dictate things from midfield and giant defender Willian Pacheco will be difficult to beat in the air if Tampines decide to put crosses in for their new striker. Pacheco will also be a threat at set pieces and will need to be marked carefully. But perhaps the biggest threat tomorrow will come from Stefano Lilipaly, the so called 'face of Indonesian football'. The dutch born Indonesian international who will play alongside Fadil Sausu in the middle but may also drift out wide provides much of the creativity for the Indonesian champs. The attacking midfielder is already known to Singaporean football fans having scored the winner against Singapore in the 2016 Suzuki cup. Expect Lilpaly to be a handful all night, providing the ammunition for striker Melvin Platje. However, there are a number of reasons for Tampines fans to be hopeful ahead of the game. Bali striker Ilija Spasojevic, who is normally the team's biggest threat up front, scoring 16 times in Liga 1 last year, has not traveled to Singapore. Apparently he is still on holiday in his native Montenegro, rumours are that he is soon to leave the club. Even more bizarrely, Bali will be without their Brazilian manager Stefano Cugurra. Cugurra, who is commonly known as Teco, does not have the correct coaching badges to coach the team in this year's ACL so will be replaced by Emral Abus.

If the stags are victorious tomorrow they will head to Australia to take on Melbourne Victory, possibly followed by a trip to Japan for a final qualifying game against former Champions League winners Kashima Antlers. In anticipation of Tampines' failure to qualify for the ACL proper, they have already been placed into Group H of the AFC Cup along with Kaya FC of the Phillipines, Myanmar's Shan United and the winner of the Lalenok United Vs PSM Makassar. Whatever happens tomorrow, Tampines' 2020 Asian adventure is only just beginning. If you enjoyed reading this, please follow me on Twitter @KevinDunkerley or sign up as a member to get an email whenever I write something new. Thanks for reading.