I-League 2015/16 – Goa champions Sporting host Kolkata champions East Bengal
The winner of the Goa Professional League, Sporting Clube de Goa, will host the winner of the Calcutta Football League, East Bengal, in their opening game of the 2015-16 I-League season, at the Fatorda Stadium, in Goa, which hosted the ISL final just few weeks ago.
Both the clubs had a pretty disappointing I-League campaign last time around - East Bengal finishing fourth behind newly promoted Royal Wahingdoh, while Sporting Goa just about managing to survive relegation, after an upturn in form in the second half of the season.
However, both East Bengal and Sporting Goa have won their respective state leagues, in the buildup to this season, and will be confident of producing much better performances this time around.
Team news
SCG's manager Mateus Costa has a few selection headaches ahead of this game. Playmaker Densil Theobald is yet to complete his transfer formalities and join the squad for this game, while Rowlin Borges is unavailable for selection due to an ankle injury.
East Bengal, on the other hand, will be without Cavin Lobo, who is yet to recover from his injury. Joaquim Abranches and Luis Barretto does have full match fitness, and will miss this game as well. Abinash Ruidas is also been left out of the squad that has traveled to Goa for this game. These absences, along with the fact that East Bengal are yet to sign their fourth foreigner, means manager Biswajit Bhattacharya will lack options on the bench.
Tactics
Sporting are likely to field their team in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Odafa Okolie leading the line. Mahmoud Amna will partner Odafa in the attack, although he is likely to play in a slightly deeper role.
New signing Arindam Bhattacharya will start in goal, with Clemente Joseph, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Loveday Okechuckwu and Mathew Gonsalves forming the back-four. Nicholas Fernandes, who was signed on loan from Churchill Brothers, and Marcus Mascarenhas will start on the wings, and the duo will look to exploit the vulnerable East Bengal defence.
Samad Ali and Robert Lalthlamuana, fullbacks of East Bengal, will have a tough task in their hand. The Kolkata-based club's key man in the defence will be new signing Bello Rasaq, who made a big impact with Mohun Bagan last season.
East Bengal are likely to start with Harmanjot Khabra and Mehtab Hossain at the center of the park, with Sehnaj Singh providing cover from the bench. Sehnaj will start if Biswajit Bhattacharya opts to use a 4-3-3 formation, which often changes to a 4-4-1-1 as the match progresses.
All eyes will be on Do Dong Hyun, who has been a revelation since signing for the club. Experienced striker Ranti Martins will lead the line in attack for East Bengal.
Prediction
Sporting Club de Goa 2-2 East Bengal
Both the teams can be defensively vulnerable, and will rely mostly on their attacks to deliver the goods. It will be an open game of football, which will have lots of goals, and in the end, no clear winner.
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