THE 2020 Philippines Football League will kick off on Oct. 25, and the question on every Pinoy football fan’s mind right now is which team can topple favorites United City FC (UCFC).
United is essentially defending champion Ceres-Negros with a new name and new owners.
The mercurial Stephan Schrock still leads as captain, while the club’s top scorer, OJ Porteria, partners with Bienvenido Marañon, Lopez Mendy and Mike Ott in attack.
New head coach Trevor Morgan, however, has big shoes to fill following the club’s milestones under erstwhile coach Risto Vidakovic.
Most likely United’s main motivation to winning the PFL is an historic outright slot in the expanded AFC Champions League 2021.
As the most complete and well-rounded team in the league, UCFC remains as one of the strongest contenders from Southeast Asia.
Then-Ceres UCFC and Kaya both had good runs in the AFC Cup 2020 earlier this year, before the pandemic cut short their campaign.
With Marañon as the cup’s leading scorer, United grabbed two wins and a draw, while Kaya earned a win and two draws.
Kaya’s most recent results owe much to its rock solid defense with the almost impregnable beast Louie Casas keeping guard between the sticks.
Simone Rota, Marco Casambre, Masanari Omura and Carlyle Mitchell formed a formidable defensive unit in their draws against Tampines Rovers and PSM Makassar.
While its defense is pretty solid, potency in offense and a stable midfield are what Kaya lacks.
Not that Kaya is wanting in attacking manpower, since its roster of forwards led by captain Joven Bedic is a capable one.
Kaya’s main problem, though, is finding the right chemistry to create effective plays that lead to goals.
On paper, the PFL looks like a two-horse race between Kaya and UCFC, but one dark horse could make the six-club league with a compressed format more unpredictable.
The Azkals Development Team, with senior squad head coach Scott Copper at the helm, may not win the title, but the youth squad could very well pull off an upset or two to tip the PFL scales.