ISL 2015: Three reasons why NorthEast will defeat Delhi tonight
NorthEast United host Delhi Dynamos at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati tonight as we head into the business end of the league phase. The home team are heading into this fixture on an impressive run of form, having lost just two of their last nine matches, while second placed Delhi will look to bounce back from the humiliating defeat at the hands of Chennaiyin.
Prediction
NorthEast United 2-1 Delhi Dynamos
Stop Malouda; stop Delhi
The Frenchman has the most number of assists in the league (6), alongside Sameehg Doutie and Leo Moura, and if NorthEast find a way to stop him, they will make it hard for Delhi to score.
The visitors are over-reliant on Malouda to orchestrate their moves in the final third and teams have started to take notice of that fact. In their last game. Chennaiyin manager Marco Materazzi appointed Raphael Augusto to 'handle' Malouda and the Brazilian greatly confined his influence on the match.
NorthEast United manager Cesar Farias does have option to use the likes of Siam Hanghal and Andre Bikey to mark Malouda and that will handicap the visitors to a great extent.
Delhi's struggle in front of goal
Delhi Dynamos have scored just 11 goals in their 11 matches so far β the least scored by a team this season. After promising to turn things around with a 3-1 win over FC Pune City in their 10th match, the Pride failed to find the back of the net against Chennaiyin in their last game.
They will face a NorthEast defence who have shown a lot of improvement recently. The Highlanders looked shaky at the back at the start of the tournament, but the arrival of Andre Bikey and Carlos Lopez have shored up the back four, along with Cedric Hengbart's return to form. Delhi will find it hard to create too many chances tonight.
Chennaiyin provided the blueprint to score against Delhi
Delhi still have the most stringent defence in the league, having conceded the least number of goals so far β 13. But this much hyped back-four looked a lot vulnerable against Chennaiyin in their last game as they conceded four goals on the night.
Two pacy wide forwards β Jeje and Stiven Mendoza β dragged the Delhi defenders all over the park, while their left-back Souvik Chakraborty was toyed with by Bruno Pelissari. In the likes of Simao and Nicolaz Velez, NorthEast have similar players in their ranks and Cesar Farias is a shrewd enough tactician to exploit the chink in Delhi's defence down the left wing.
