After Circuit 7, Selangor continue to hold off the chasing pack

There is a version of the MPFL 2026 season in which Johor Darul Ta'zim simply carry on from where they left off, chasing a third straight title with the same ruthlessness that has defined the last two campaigns. Instead, it is Selangor sitting top and unbeaten, and the reason for that is contained almost entirely in one result: a 5-3 win over JDT in Circuit 3 that remains, months on, the only defeat suffered by JDT all season.

Everything about the top of the table has flowed from that afternoon. JDT have barely put a foot wrong since, reeling off eight wins and a draw from their following nine matches, including a 15-1 demolition of PFA Odin Sarawak that took them level on goal difference with the division's best sides and closed the points gap on Selangor to single figures. New head coach João Almeida, appointed only in January, has lost almost nothing in translation from the side that won back-to-back titles under his predecessor: Brazilian pivot Bruno Taffy remains the fulcrum of the attack, with Andresito supplying goals from wide areas and Mohamad Awalludin capable of the kind of four-goal afternoons that buried PFA Odin in Kuantan.

Pahang Rangers have made themselves the story of the chasing pack in a different way, through resilience rather than ruthlessness. Their 3-3 draw away at JDT, salvaged from 3-0 down at the break, set the tone for a season in which Eloy Alonso's side have refused to be written off against anyone above them, and they now sit three points behind JDT heading into the business end of the campaign. Much of that comes down to a strike partnership doing damage across the division: Felipe De Souza sits second in the MPFL's scoring charts, with Rodrigo Da Silva not far behind, and Ahmad Harith offering a homegrown outlet alongside the club's Brazilian imports.

What has kept Selangor clear at the top, rather than embroiled in a genuine three-way fight, is that their own personalities have matched the moment. Marlon leads the MPFL's goalscoring charts outright, Evandro Borges has added a further eleven of his own, and Syahir Iqbal, arguably the form player in the entire league this season, leads the MPFL's own Player of the Match rankings. It is a Selangor side built with real depth in the areas that matter most in a carnival format that punishes squads without it, and that depth has been the difference between simply beating JDT once and beating everyone else too.

None of this guarantees anything with the playoffs still to come. Automatic qualification for the top two means Selangor's cushion matters far less than their form heading into the closing circuits, and a JDT side that has responded to its one defeat with the best form in the league will fancy overhauling them before the season is out. Pahang, for their part, have shown they can live with either of the teams above them on their day, even if consistency across nine circuits has so far kept them a place short. For now, though, it remains Selangor's title to lose, built on a single result in Circuit 3 that neither of their closest rivals has yet found a way to avenge.