match preview - pahang rangers v atm

Pahang Rangers welcome ATM Futsal to Shah Alam on Sunday for the second matchday of circuit five in the Malaysia Premier Futsal League 2026, with Eloy Alonso's side looking to extend one of the most impressive runs in the competition against opponents whose season has taken a turn for the worse.

Pahang have lost just once all season, a 5-3 reverse away to Selangor, and go into the weekend on the back of a run of four wins in five games with victories over Wipers, Terengganu, KL City, USM and PFA Odin. Felipe De Souza and Rodrigo Da Silva have carried much of that scoring burden between them, De Souza's six-goal haul against Wipers and hat-trick against Terengganu among the highlights of a prolific circuit two and three for the Brazilian.

The two sides have already met once this season, on the opening day back in May, when Pahang came away 6-1 winners in Johor courtesy of a De Souza brace and further goals from Harith Na'im, Akmarulnizam Idris, Rodrigo Da Silva and Tuah Eizlan. Shamsuri Saleh's effort was ATM's only reply that day, and De Souza's man-of-the-match display set the tone for what has followed since.

ATM arrive in altogether different shape to the side that pushed Selangor and JDT close in the middle of the season. Izmir Firdaus Bin Zainal Ariff's side had shown promise with wins over USM, Wipers and PFA Odin either side of a draw with KL City, but an 8-3 defeat to JDT was followed by a 5-3 loss to Terengganu on matchday one of circuit five, as they slipped to back to back defeats for the second time this season.

The picture has been complicated further by the departure of Bukhari Samsudin to JDT, a significant loss for a side already searching for consistency, and captain Shamsuri Saleh will need to shoulder even more of the attacking responsibility in his absence.

On current form the gap between the two sides looks wider than it did in May, and Pahang will fancy their chances of a second win over ATM this season as they push to stay in touch with Selangor at the top of the table. For ATM, a first win over their circuit-one conquerors would be a timely way to arrest a difficult run and steady the ship before the closing weeks of the campaign.