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FC Goa are reeling at the bottom of the table after they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of FC Pune City at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune. They now move back to their home ground at the Fatorda Stadium to face a spiky Delhi Dynamos side who have shown their two sides, being brilliant against a strong Chennaiyin side and playing poorly against NorthEast United.
Both teams would be looking to add three points to their kitty. These are crucial times in the Indian Super League and while Delhi need to settle in more, FC Goa need to find their feet and would be searching for a maiden win in what has all the makings of a potential cracker. The key for Goa would be to put the disappointment behind and start afresh. There is still a long way to go and if the side gains momentum at the right time, they might nick in a surprise or two.
FC Goa will once again be without Robert Pires who faces the second of his two match ban for disciplinary issues in the match against Atletico de Kolkata.
Form Guide
FC Goa: L-L-D-L
FC Goa has played four games so far, losing three and just sharing the spoils in the fourth to put them in a spot of bother. While they have had some good spells in a game, they have failed to make the most of it, forcing Zico to point out that the team is missing a goal poacher. But the team would need to put all that behind them and come together as a fresh, rejuvenated unit and try to make the most of the home advantage.
Delhi Dynamos: D-W-D-D
Though Delhi Dynamos haven’t emerged as a very free scoring team, they are yet to lose a game and look rather compact in defence. Delhi have had certain spells in the game compelling one to consider them as serious challengers, while others have suggested an average season for the team from the capital. As the Dynamos head to Goa, they would be looking to firstly settle in the game, get adjusted to the situation and then try to make the most of the game.
Venue & Kickoff
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, also known as the Fatorda Stadium is located in Margoa, Goa and is a multi-purpose stadium, which has been host to a number of international cricket and football games. It is the only international venue in the state having a seating capacity of 24500.
FC Goa has managed to build a strong fan base for itself with fans around the city planning in their own little way to make the crowd support massive and spur on the FC Goa outfit. The last two games have seen immense turnout and the passion the state has for the sport, there is every chance that fans would light up the stadium yet again to spur their team to their maiden win of the tournament; a much needed one at that.
Kick-off: November 1, 2014: 7:00 pm (IST)
Possible starting line-ups
FC Goa (4-1-4-1): Kattimani; Debrata Das, Youness Bengelloun, Gregory Arnolin,Narayan Das; Peter Carvalho; Romeo Fernandes, Bruno Pinheiro, Edgar Marcelino, Andre Santos; Miroslav Slepicka
FC Goa have had some trouble in scoring goals. Having tried both Ranti Martins and Herlien, Zico is expected to give a run to the Czech Republic 32 year old striker Miroslav Slepicka upfront alone facing off the impressive duo of Anwar Ali and Wim Raymaekers. The backline and the guard between the sticks is expected to remain unshuffled, while Edgar is likely to slot in for one of the strikers with FC Goa likely to revert back to a 4-1-4-1 formation.
With Robert Pires missing again due to a suspension, the Portuguese pair of Edgar and Bruno are slated to take up the central midfield role and will be against the duo of Arias and Mulder, while Andre Santos would be looking to exploit the weaker side of defence of Delhi, charging from the left side of the park.
Romeo Fernandes looks set to start his firts game of the campaign after having come one for an injured Gabriel Fernandes, who still seems to be recovering from the niggle. Romeo is an exciting youngster and with his pace and trickery, would look to get past the Delhi defense.
Peter Carvalho as usual would provide the shield, trying to thwart any threat posed by Alessandro Del Piero.
Delhi Dynamos (4-4-1-1): Kristof Van Hout; Naoba Singh, Anwar Ali, Wim Raymaekers, Shouvik Ghosh; Steven Dias, Hans Mulder, Bruno Arias, Shylo Malswamtluanga; Del Piero; Mads Junker
Adil Khan had a rather feeble game on the right side of defence and hence Delhi coach Harm van Veldhoven is expected to slot back Naoba Singh, who adds a lot more venom in attack as well, while being defensively more astute. The rest of the line-up is set to remain unchanged with the likes of Steven Dias and Shylo operating on either side of Mulder and Arias facing off against Narayan Das and Debrata Roy.
Mads Junker would be expected to get back to scoring ways, overpowering a strong defensive pair of Arnolin and Youness for FC Goa.
Key Facts and Stats:
- This is the first time the teams are going head to head in the ISL.
- The stadium is the home ground for Salgaocar FC, Dempo SC and Sporting Clube de Goa in the I-League
- FC Goa team comprises of only Dempo SC players as their domestic players.
- While Goa has already conceded 7 goals in four games, Delhi Dynamos has just let in two goals in as many games.
- Delhi Dynamos are fourth in the table with 6 points from four games, while FC Goa are bottom with just a point in the same number of games.
- FC Goa has scored just three goals in the tournament so far. That is one less than what Delhi managed against Chennaiyin FC.
Key Battles
Arnolin and Youness vs Junker
Though Junker hasn’t been in the most lethal of goalscoring form, his movement in the games has been really good. From his run to score a diving header against Chennaiyin FC to his backheel goal attempt and a Van Persiesque flying header against NorthEast United FC, he has shown enough signs for the opposition to be wary of.
The FC Goa defensive pair have been usually solid, but there have been moments in the game where the pair seem to have lost some bit of attention and this is when exactly Junker might add injury to insult and hence, a well concentrated 90 minutes from the pair in addition to marking the runs is what would be the call of the day for the central defensive pair.
Del Piero vs Peter Carvalho
Peter Carvalho will have his task cut out when the struggling FC Goa side take on Delhi Dynamos on Saturday. He will need to keep track of Piero and though he isn’t the quickest, each inch of space given to the Italian could cost the home side dearly. Zico would advise Carvalho to man mark Del Piero out of the game and cut all his forward supply, leading to Delhi Dynamos needing to do something different.
Andre Santos vs Naoba Singh
After a slow start to the ISL, Andre Santos seemed to have finally found his groove. After a goal against Atletico de Kolkata and a very impressive performance against FC Pune City, Santos is definitely one man Delhi need to keep a check on. Naoba Singh will need to be on his toes as Andre Santos would look to exploit any inch of space in the Delhi defence and pounce on it.
Prediction
FC Goa 2-2 Delhi Dynamos
