Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of this evening's Chennaiyin FC vs SC East Bengal Indian Super League (ISL 2021-22) clash played at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa.
In case you missed the match, here's a recap
7:25 PM: Five minutes to Kick off!
SC East Bengal sits second from bottom with no wins in the new campaign, while Chennaiyin has not lost a game so far. With both teams out on the ground after the warm-up, it looks to be a tight contest in Goa tonight.
7:10 PM: Neither Chennaiyin FC and SC East Bengal have managed to get a clear result in two of the matches that they played with the first ending 2-2 and the other as a goalless draw.
6:40 PM- OFFICIAL LINEUPS ARE OUT!!
Chennaiyin FC Playing XI: Kaith (GK); Reagan, Slavko, Narayan, Jerry, Ariel, Anirudh, Chhangte, Koman, Murzaev, Ali
Subs: Debjit (GK), Salam, Balaji, Edwin, Meetel, Germanpreet, Suhail, Jobby, Lukasz
Coach: Bozidar Bandovic
SC East Bengal Playing XI: Suvam (GK); Daniel, Tomislav, Joyner, Hira, Amarjit, Amir, Rafique, Sidoel, Naorem, Chima
Subs: Sankar Roy (GK), Adil, Prce, Raju, Sourav, Hnamte, Jairu, Perosevic, Haokip
Coach: Manolo Diaz
6:15 PM- Last time the teams played against each other, the match ended in a goalless draw. See how the match panned out.
6:00 PM- Here is how we think the two teams will lineup today!!
Chennaiyin FC Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Vishal Kaith (GK); Reagan Singh, Slavko Damjanovic, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Ariel Borysiuk, Anirudh Thapa (C); Lallianzuala Chhangte, Vladimir Koman, Mirlan Murzaev; Rahim Ali.
SC East Bengal Predicted XI (4-4-2): Suvam Sen (GK); Joyner Lourenco, Raju Gaikwad, Franjo Prce (C), Hira Mondal; Naorem Singh, Amir Dervisevic, Mohammad Rafique, Bikash Jairu; Darren Sidoel, Antonio Perosevic.
5:45 PM- Form Guide of both teams heading into today's match.
Chennaiyin FC: Chennaiyin FC will be flying high heading into the match after beating NorthEast United FC 2-1 in its last match.
SC East Bengal: The Red and Gold Brigade lost a 10-goal thriller against Odisha FC in its last match where the Kalinga Warriors defeated them with a scoreline of 6-4.
Match Preview: ISL 2021: In-form Chennaiyin FC meets struggling East Bengal
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.
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.
Where to watch?
