ISL 2021: In-form Chennaiyin FC meets struggling East Bengal

Chennaiyin is still finding its feet under new manager Bozidar Bandovic but has managed to start off strongly with two wins against Hyderabad FC and NorthEast United FC.

Against the Highlanders in the last match, Chennaiyin looked better organised than in the opener against HFC and the 2-1 win will give huge confidence to the team.

Chennaiyin FC will look to make it a hat-trick of wins when it takes on a struggling SC East Bengal in its third Indian Super League match in Vasco da Gama on Friday.

The two-time champion is still trying to find its feet under new manager Bozidar Bandovic, but the team has managed to pull off two wins — against Hyderabad FC and NorthEast United FC.

Against the Highlanders in the previous match, the team looked better organised than in the opener against HFC, and the 2-1 win will give it confidence.

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Can do better

Speaking ahead of the match, Bandovic said, “We have a chance now to make three wins in a row. We need to be better, quicker and need to have good decisions. We had a very good start, and that is good for our confidence.”

East Bengal, on the other hand, has had a torrid start to its campaign with two losses and a draw.

Worrying factor

What would be more worrying for them is that it has been weak defensively, conceding 10 goals so far.

In its last fixture, it lost 4-6 to Odisha FC after a 0-3 defeat to ATK Mohun Bagan. In the opening match, it played out a 1-1 draw against Jamshedpur FC.

Despite the setbacks, East Bengal coach Jose Manuel Diaz looked at the positives after the last game saying, “The fact that we have started scoring goals is a big positive. It is an indication of the fact that the attacking line-up has started clicking together.

“But in football, it is a matter of balance. We need to focus on rectifying our mistakes and backing ourselves to win the first match,” he added.