ISL 2015: FC Goa likely to prolong Chennaiyin FC's search for the first win
As FC Goa prepare to host Chennaiyin FC at the Fatorda Stadium, Materazzi's men are still looking to get their first points on the board and the visitor's defence won't relish the prospect of facing a lethal Goa attack. Despite the changes planned by Chennai, Goa should go on to claim all three points, albeit a hard fought one.
FC Goa are currently second in the league table and are going into this game on the back of a hard fought 1-1 draw against Atletico de Kolkata. Despite dominating most of the game, the home side failed to take their chances. It was only after Atletico were down to 10-men, that they found the back of the net.
Goa FC boss, Zico, at the moment must be pondering the predictability of the tactics they employ. A lot of teams will be content to sit back and defend against them, like Atletico did, and they need to diversify their style of play. Both Mandar Rao Desai and Romeo Fernandes need to take on the fullbacks and deliver more crosses into the box, instead of just drifting to a more central role.
Chennaiyin FC have suffered two back-to-back defeats and are in dire need of a positive result in this game. Hyped as one of the favorites to lift the title this season, Marco Materazzi's men have endured a disappointing start to their campaign. In the last match against Delhi Dynamos, the men in blue failed to break down their opponents defence, as they lacked incisiveness in the final third. Bruno Pelissari, who came on in the second half, was arguably the only bright spot on the night for the traveling team.
Materazzi is yet to find the right midfield combination for his side, while his defense continues to concede goals. If his strikers don't manage to outscore opponents, the former Italian international will have to soon find a way to plug his back-line.
FC Goa team news
Goa will still be without Pronay Halder and Narayan Das, who are preparing for India's World Cup Qualifier fixture against Oman on tuesday.
Zico has also confirmed that Brazilian forward Victor Simoes will miss the first half of the tournament due to an injury, while Indian defender Raju Gaikwad will take three weeks to recover from his fitness concern.
Like in the last game, Goa will field an unchanged line-up.
Chennaiyin FC team news
Vivek Nagul has confirmed that Fikru, who came off the bench in the last game, has regained his fitness. Jeje Lalpekhlua and Karanjit Singh are still unavailable for selection though, with the duo travelling with the national team.
In the pre-match press conference, Nagul has hinted towards changes to the starting eleven. Jayesh Rane might finally get his opportunity to start, as he is likely to partner Fikru upfront.
Bruno Pelissari, who impressed in the last match after coming on as a substitute, will replace Manuele Blasi in the midfield. This means Harmanjot Khabra will play as a holding midfielder in this match.
What the managers said
In FC Goa's last game against Atletico de Kolkata, Reinaldo missed couple of chances for the home side. When asked about this, Zico replied, "No it doesn’t bother me. It would bother me if he had no opportunities. There have been so many opportunities because he has been present in the box with all the players."
He also had some keen observatons for his midfield. "What has been missing is for the midfield to play closer to Reinaldo. Sometimes he gets alone- forward- which makes his work harder. When we drew with Atletico de Kolkata they had all the defense around him which made it worse for him. I have told Mandar and Romeo to be closer to Reinaldo and help him- if it happens, more things will work well," remarked the Goa manager.
Chennaiyin FC assistant manager, Vivek Nagul, isn't yet ringing alarm bells despite the two defeats, and has promised a lot of changes for the match tonight. "No panic button at the moment but yes it is a disappointment that we lost two games in a row and we want to apologize to all our Chennaiyin FC fans but we want to assure that we will come back with a bang. We have planned our sessions, we have planned what to do in the next game and game by game we will go ahead- this game we will see a lot of changes," he said in the press conference.
Previous encounters
15 October, 2014: FC Goa 1-2 Chennaiyin FC (Gregory 63'; Balwant 31', Elano 43')
5 December, 2014: Chennaiyin FC 1-3 FC Goa (Maurice 90'; Romeo 23', Santos 41', Slepicka 62')
Prediction
FC Goa 2-1 Chennaiyin FC
Chennaiyin's defence won't relish the prospect of facing the lethal Goa attack. Despite the changes promised by Vivek Nagul, Goa should go on to claim all three points, albeit a hard fought one.
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