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After a stop-start campaign in the first half of the league phase, both Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa will look to inject some fuel in their campaign as both teams look to at least repeat last year’s performance of making the semi-finals. The quest will start at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai and both teams come into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw – Chennaiyin against Kerala Blasters and Goa against FC Pune City.
A win for either team will take them to the summit of the league. The last time the two sides met, Chennaiyin handed out a 4-0 thrashing as Goa looked lacklustre on their home turf. But as Goa manager Zico put it, “There is no feeling of revenge. If we beat Chennai and lose the other games, it won’t matter. So we will take this as any other game, where we will try our best to get the three points.”
Chennaiyin will again presumably look up to Stiven Mendoza and Elano Blumer to get them the goals, but Marco Materazzi said he was not worried by the team’s seeming over-reliance on the South American duo. “They are our best players, so we look up to them for big performances. But everyone is doing their duty for the team.”
Kickoff and Telecast
Live Telecast: Star Sports 2 & 3, Star Sports HD2 & HD3
Live Streaming: starsports.com
Date and Time: Thursday, 5 November 2015 – 1900 IST
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Live updates on Sportskeeda
Team News
Chennaiyin have been granted a boost as midfielder Harmanjot Khabra returns after his 4-game ban was reduced to two games. Jayesh Rane, who has had an impressive tournament, was rested against Kerala, but he is likely to come back into the scheme of things.
Left back Dhanachandra Singh suffered a facial injury that kept him out of the game against Kerala, but he too is fit to start. The availability of Khabra could mean that Manuele Blasi drops to the bench. That could enable Bruno Pelissari to start as the sixth foreigner in the team.
Goa coach Zico has various injury problems to deal with as Jofre, Reinaldo, Joaquim Abranches and Keenan Almeida are all ruled out. Striker Daryl Duffy will miss the rest of the tournament and the Nigerian Dudu has been called up as a replacement.
Rafael Coelho was also called up as a replacement for Brazilian compatriot Victor Simoes and Zico confirmed that he was fit and ready to start. Zico was full of praise for young Indian striker Thongkosiem Haokip, and he is likely to get another start.
Probable XIs
Chennaiyin FC: Karanjit Singh, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Mailson Alves, Bernard Mendy, Dhanachandra Singh, Harmanjot Khabra, Raphael Augusto, Bruno Pelissari, Jayesh Rane, Elano Blumer, Stiven Mendoza.
FC Goa: Elinton Andrade, Luciano Sabrosa, Lucio, Gregory Arnolin, Narayan Das, Bikramjit Singh, Jonatan Lucca, Leo Moura, Romeo Fernandes, Mandar Rao Desai, Thongkosiem Haokip.
Key Battles
Stiven Mendoza v Lucio
The young Colombian has been Chennaiyin’s talisman with 6 goals so far; a feat for which he shares the top scorer spot with Sunil Chhetri. He has got blistering pace, and the composure to complement that as well. Mendoza will have happy memories of playing against Goa, as he scored a hat-trick in the previous fixture between the two sides.
The Goa defenders were unable to contend with his pace, as he ran in behind the defence at will. With someone as experienced as Lucio is, one can expect the same mistake not to be repeated. The wily old fox should have a trick or two up his sleeve to deal with Mendoza, if Goa are to keep Chennaiyin quiet.
Harmanjot Khabra v Leo Moura
The skillful Brazilian will definitely be Goa’s creative outlet, especially in the absence of Jofre. He will be up against Khabra, who will return after missing the last two games due to suspension. Materazzi places a lot of faith in Khabra, and the Indian generally repays that faith with bullish performances on the field.
If Moura can exploit any rustiness in Khabra, he can be able to set off the likes of Mandar and Romeo who have got pace to burn. One problem for Moura might be his lack of legs, something that never seems to trouble Khabra, who covers as much ground as anyone else on the pitch.
Prediction
Chennaiyin are on home turf and they don’t lose very often at home. Ravaged by injuries, Goa have a fight on their hands to get anything out of the game. This is a game that Chennaiyin should win comfortably.
Predicted score: Chennaiyin FC 3-1 FC Goa
