High-flying Goa will join struggling Chennai in the Saturday encounter of Indian Football League 2020-21. Goa is sitting in the middle of the table, while Chennai is still finding its confidence after going winless in the last four matches.
Match Timings: Dec 19, 7:30 PM IST
Team Preview
Fatorda produced another defeat for Goa, and they lost the opportunity to find a place in the top four. In the previous game, the Mariners edged past them 1-0 in a tense affair. In the 80th minute, Goa were denied a penalty for McHugh's tackle on Ortiz, and after five minutes, Habas’ men got a penalty for an apparent foul by Aiban on Roy Krishna. Krishna made no mistake to score a winner and strengthen its position in the top two. After getting one goal down, Goa fought hard in the last few minutes. Saviour Gama almost came close with a long shot, and Bedia’s header also went wide in injury time.
Goa now have eight points from six matches, and the shield winner of the last season are still missing its spark. Despite the defeat in the previous game, they had few positives. Savior Gama was excellent in his role, and his shot from the long-distance almost got an equaliser for the Gaurs. Alexander Jesuraj had a busy time on the ground, and Goa would expect more efficiency from him.
Meanwhile, Chennai’s campaign has been so poor with adding just two points after defeating Jamshedpur in the season opener. They played its second goalless draw of the season last week as Northeast held them for one point. There were plenty of chances for both sides to score. Chennai missed easy opportunities. Lallianzuala Chhangte was guilty of missing the chance in the second half. Chennai has scored only three goals from the first five matches, and two of those came in the first match.
Both sides locked horns in the semifinals of the last edition, and Chennai defeated Goa 6-5 on aggregate. Out of four matches in 2019-20, Goa emerged victorious with three wins. Gaurs scored 12 goals against Chennai, three goals on average. The current form gives them an upper hand over Chennai.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Goa
Lineup: Mohammad Nawaz; Seriton Fernandes, Ivan Gonzalez, James Donachie, Saviour Gama; Alberto Noguera, Lenny Rodrigues, Edu Bedia; Alexander Romario Jesuraj, Len Doungel, Igor Angulo
Current form – L W W D L
Previous match – 1-0 defeat against Mohun B.
Chennai
Lineup: Vishal Kaith (GK), Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia (C), Jerry Lalrinzuala, Deepak Tangri, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Anirudh Thapa, Fatkhulo Fatkhulloev, Memo Moura, Germanpreet Singh, Jakub Sylvestr
Current form – D L L D W
Previous match – A goalless draw with Chennai
Key Players
Goa
Brandon Fernandes
2 goals & 7 assists in Indian Football League 2019-20
Igor Angulo
12 goals in Ekstraklasa 2019-20
6 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Chennai
Lallianzuala Chhangte
7 goals in Indian Football League 2019-20
Isma Goncalves
1 goal in Indian Football League 2019-20
