Get ready for the big return of MSL2020 in August with our comprehensive guide to what has happened in the season thus far and what’s to come!
The 2020 MSL season kicked off when Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) welcomed Kedah in the brand new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in a match that also doubled up as the Charity Shield. A solitary Mauricio dos Santos header was enough to give JDT the cup as well as three valuable points.
But just as the season was heating up, trouble hit when the Covid-19 pandemic began to enveloped the world. Malaysia started seeing signs of the virus spreading fast and wide in the country with Malaysian Footbal League (MFL) ordering the fourth round of the matches to be played behind closed doors even before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced by the Malaysian government.
It was on March 16 that Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) ordered all football activities in the country to be stopped and that included the Super League.
Contents
- When will the Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) restart
- Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) 2020 format
- Malaysia Super League fixtures
- Malaysia Super League results
- Malaysia Super League table
- Malaysia Super League top scorers
When will the Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) restart?
Good news for Malaysian football fans after MFL announced on Jul 17 that the domestic competition will return in August with the first full set of matches to be played on Aug 26. The league was stopped after only four rounds of matches back in March with teams allowed to return for individual training back on Jun 15 with contact training allowed beginning of Jul 15.
MFL has also put out directive for the teams to plan for friendly matches only beginning Aug 2, a full two weeks after the first contact training.
Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) 2020 format
Due to the loss of four months without any matches, the resumption of MSL will see a shortened version of it with only 11 rounds of matches to be completed instead of the usual 22 rounds of matches to be played among the 12 teams in the division – precisely seeing the season cut into half.
A decision that MFL also made because of the desire not to impinge onto the 2021 season as well as the need to fulfill one of the cup competitions, which is the Malaysia Cup after the FA Cup has been cancelled. The national team taking precendence from November onwards is also another reason why the remainder of the season will stay within the confines of the original calendar.
Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) fixtures
While the full set of fixtures will only be played on Aug 26, the first match of the return will actually be the postponed match between PJ City FC and Terengganu FC that was the only MD4 match that was not played because of a lack of venue.
Subsequently MFL have revised the fixtures after the joint World Cup 2022 and Asian Cup 2023 qualification matches scheduled for October and November has been postponed by the Asian Football Confederation which allowed MFL to widen the Super League period from September 23 to October 10, thus giving teams more recovery time in between matches.
The change also saw the final day fixtures moved to a single date of October 10 instead of the previous schedule of being played over two days, thus making it more fair for any potential championship or relegation fight that could happen on the last day.
The full fixtures are as follows:
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 28 | Pahang v Johor Darul Ta’zim | Darul Makmur Stadium |
| Aug 28 | Perak v Melaka | Perak Stadium |
| Aug 28 | Felda United v UiTM FC | Tun Abdul Razak Stadium |
| Aug 29 | Terengganu FC v Sabah | Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium |
| Aug 29 | PDRM v Kedah | KLFA Stadium |
| Aug 29 | Selangor v PJ City FC | UiTM Stadium |
| Sep 04 | Melaka v Terengganu FC | Hang Jebat Stadium |
| Sep 04 | Sabah v Selangor | Likas Stadium |
| Sep 04 | Johor Darul Ta’zim v Perak | Sultan Ibrahim Stadium |
| Sep 05 | UiTM FC v Pahang | UiTM Stadium |
| Sep 05 | Kedah v PJ City FC | Darul Aman Stadium |
| Sep 05 | PDRM v Felda United | KLFA Stadium |
| Sep 11 | Terengganu FC v Johor Darul Ta’zim | Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium |
| Sep 11 | Selangor v Melaka | UiTM Stadium |
| Sep 11 | Perak v UiTM FC | Perak Stadium |
| Sep 12 | Pahang v PDRM | Darul Makmur Stadium |
| Sep 12 | Felda United v Kedah | Tun Abdul Razak Stadium |
| Sep 12 | PJ City FC v Sabah | MBPJ Stadium |
| Sep 19 | Kedah v Sabah | Darul Aman Stadium |
| Sep 19 | Johor Darul Ta’zim v Selangor | Sultan Ibrahim Stadium |
| Sep 19 | UiTM FC v Terengganu FC | UiTM Stadium |
| Sep 20 | Felda United v Pahang | Tun Abdul Razak Stadium |
| Sep 20 | Melaka v PJ City FC | Hang Jebat Stadium |
| Sep 20 | PDRM v Perak | KLFA Stadium |
| Sep 25 | PJ City FC v Johor Darul Ta’zim | MBPJ Stadium |
| Sep 25 | Terengganu FC v PDRM | Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium |
| Sep 25 | Perak v Felda United | Perak Stadium |
| Sep 26 | Sabah v Melaka | Likas Stadium |
| Sep 26 | Pahang v Kedah | Darul Makmur Stadium |
| Sep 26 | Selangor v UiTM FC | UiTM Stadium |
| Oct 02 | Kedah v Melaka | Darul Aman Stadium |
| Oct 02 | Johor Darul Ta’zim v Sabah | Sultan Ibrahim Stadium |
| Oct 02 | UiTM FC v PJ City FC | UiTM Stadium |
| Oct 03 | Felda United v Terengganu FC | Tun Abdul Razak Stadium |
| Oct 03 | Pahang v Perak | Darul Makmur Stadium |
| Oct 03 | PDRM v Selangor | KLFA Stadium |
| Oct 10 | Melaka v Johor Darul Ta’zim | Hang Jebat Stadium |
| Oct 10 | Sabah v UiTM FC | Likas Stadium |
| Oct 10 | PJ City FC v PDRM | MBPJ Stadium |
| Oct 10 | Perak v Kedah | Perak Stadium |
| Oct 10 | Terengganu FC v Pahang | Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium |
| Oct 10 | Selangor v Felda United | UiTM Stadium |
Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) results
In the earlier rounds as expected JDT quickly racked up a couple of wins before being held to their first ever draw at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium by a plucky Felda United side. Meanwhile Perak started with a bang by claiming an impressive 3-1 away win over Terengganu and have stayed unbeaten in the four matches they have played thus far.
As for Pahang, they had a rocky start to the season with two successive draws but has since improved to pick up successive wins over Sabah and Melaka. Meanwhile Super League newcomers Sabah were in a decent run of form, picking up five points from their first four matches, most impressively holding Perak to a 2-2 draw at Likas Stadium.
Here’s the full results of matches played thus far.
| Date | Teams | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 28 | JDT v Kedah | 1-0 |
| Feb 29 | Pahang v Selangor | 1-2 |
| Feb 29 | Terengganu v Perak | 1-3 |
| Feb 29 | UiTM v Melaka | 0-2 |
| Mar 01 | Felda United v PJ City | 1-1 |
| Mar 01 | PDRM v Sabah | 0-0 |
| Mar 06 | Melaka v PDRM | 3-1 |
| Mar 06 | PJ City v Pahang | 3-2 |
| Mar 07 | Sabah v Felda United | 3-1 |
| Mar 07 | JDT v UiTM | 2-1 |
| Mar 07 | Kedah v Terengganu | 3-4 |
| Mar 07 | Selangor v Perak | 1-1 |
| Mar 10 | PDRM v JDT | 0-1 |
| Mar 10 | Pahang v Sabah | 2-0 |
| Mar 11 | Felda United v Melaka | 3-2 |
| Mar 11 | Perak v PJ City | 2-0 |
| Mar 11 | Terengganu v Selangor | 3-3 |
| Mar 11 | UiTM v Kedah | 1-1 |
| Mar 14 | Sabah v Perak | 2-2 |
| Mar 14 | JDT v Felda United | 1-1 |
| Mar 14 | Melaka v Pahang | 0-1 |
| Mar 15 | Kedah v Selangor | 2-0 |
| Mar 15 | UiTM v PDRM | 3-1 |
Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) table
When the games came to a halt, it is no surprise that reigning champions JDT are leading the way with 10 points, two better than their nearest challenger Perak, both of whom are the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the division. Pahang’s revival has seen them climbed up to third, partly helped by Melaka being docked points for salary arrears issue.
Down at the bottom, it is looking like PDRM will be the standout candidate for one of the relegation spot. Despite having secured a point from their first four matches, they are on -2 in terms of points because like Melaka, they were also docked points for salary arrears problem.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JDT | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | Perak | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | Pahang | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Sabah | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | Felda United | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 5 |
| 6 | Selangor | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 5 |
| 7 | Kedah | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Terengganu | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 4 |
| 9 | UiTM | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
| 10 | PJ City | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| 11 | Melaka* | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | PDRM* | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | -2 |
*Melaka and PDRM have been docked points because of salary arrears.
Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) top scorers
Terengganu FC’s new striker Dominique da Sylva is leading the charge for the Golden Boot after four rounds of matches played with four goals scored thus far although all four of those have come in a single match, in that incredible 4-3 come from behind win over Kedah at Darul Aman Stadium.
Behind the Mauritanian is a quartet of players in Kpah Sherman, Ivan Carlos, Shahrel Fikri and Ifedayo Olusegun. Incredibly, Shahrel is the only local player there, revelling in a new role given to him by Mehmet Durakovic alongside Guilherme de Paula.
| Pos | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominique da Sylva | Terengganu FC | 4 |
| 2 | Kpah Sherman | Kedah | 3 |
| Ivan Carlos | Pahang | 3 | |
| Shahrel Fikri | Perak | 3 | |
| Ifedayo Olusegun | Selangor | 3 |
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