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Heading towards Matchday 4, Aizawl are yet to put any points on the board as they have lost all their initial three matches. Things are heating up in Group E as it becomes a matter of respect for the Mizoram side, who would not want to finish bottom of their group.
Abahani Dhaka lost to New Radiant SC 0-1 in the first match of the AFC Cup, in a rather close encounter. They were pitted against Bengaluru FC next and lost this match against the in-form side by the same scoreline.
The Bangladeshi side picked up their first points against Aizawl FC itself, when they faced them on April 11, beating them 3-0. The Sky Blue Brigaders still have a slim chance of qualifying to the knockout stages if they win all their remaining matches with a healthy goal difference. They will need a miracle for this to happen, as it is highly unlikely that Bengaluru FC will drop many points.
Aizawl FC, on the other hand, have had a poor run in the AFC Cup thus far. The I-league champions of the 2016-17 season have failed to make a positive impression as they lost their first match against Maldivian side New Radiant SC 3-1, as well as their second match against local rivals Bengaluru FC with the same scoreline.
The last time these two sides met, the Aizawl players had an extremely poor shot accuracy of only 17.6 percent. A huge reason for this being that a majority of their shots were taken from outside the box.
The North-Eastern side will look to shoot more from inside the box this time around and there is a dire need for a change in tactics from head coach Santosh Kashyap. Kashyap's aim for his team should be just to save face now and get a few points on the board.
Rubel Miya and Seiya Kojima, who scored the first and third goals respectively for Abahani in this encounter last time around, will prove to be vital players yet again.
Match Details:
Match: Abahani Dhaka vs Aizawl FC
Venue: Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka
Date: 25 April, 2018
Time: 4:00 pm IST
Telecast: No Telecast on Indian TV
Stream - AFC Cup Facebook Page
You can follow the LIVE updates from the Abahani Dhaka vs Aizawl FC match on Sportskeeda.
