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Chennai City are just one win away from a historic I-League title but Minerva Punjab are not interested in doing them any favour when the two sides meet at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore on Saturday at 5 pm IST.
With 40 points in 19 games, Chennai City are in prime position to clinch their first-ever I-League trophy. Their nearest competitors, East Bengal, are one point behind and need a win over Gokulam Kerala to savour any hopes of stealing the title from Chennai City.
Akbar Nawas' Chennai City, on the other hand, have a relatively easy opponent in Minerva Punjab, who are one spot from the bottom with 17 points in 18 games.
Chennai City had a chance to grab the I-League in the previous match-day itself, but they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat to Churchill Brothers. There are doubts whether Chennai City will choke trying to cross the final hurdle but they should pull through.
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Match Information
Date: March 9, 2019
Kick-off time: 5 pm IST
Live Streaming: Hotstar and Jio TV
TV Telecast: Star Sports 3, Star Sports Tamil 1
Live Commentary: Chennai City v Minerva Punjab I-League Live Score | Commentary and Updates
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Team News
Chennai City: The table-toppers Chennai City will miss their star midfielder Nestor Gordillo due to a yellow-card suspension. Gordillo was carded for the fourth time this season in the previous game against Churchill. Mashoor Shereef Thangalakath will return from a red-card suspension.
Minerva Punjab: Minerva Punjab have a full squad available for the match against Chennai City but having found safety from relegation, they may field a few academy players.
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Probable Line-ups
Chennai City: Mauro Boerchio (GK), Tarif Akhand, Roberto Eslava, Gaurav Bora, Sandro Rodriguez, Alexandro Romario Jesuraj, Ajithkumar Kamaraj, Michael Regin, Edwin Vanspaul, Sriram B, Pedro Manzi
Minerva Punjab: Arshdeep Singh (GK), Mahmoud Al Amna (Captain), Kalif Alhassan, Juan Barraso, Akashdeep Singh, Akash Sangwan, Arashpreet Singh, Jorgeivan R, Sreyas VG, Amandeep Singh Moinuddin
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Form Guide
Chennai City: L-W-W-D-W
Minerva Punjab: L-W-L-L-L
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Head-to-head
Chennai City: 2
Minerva Punjab: 1
Draws: 2
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Key Players
Chennai City - Sandro Rodriguez
In the absence of Nestor Gordillo, Sandro Rodriguez, the free-kick specialist at Chennai City FC, will have to take up the additional responsibility of playmaking and setting up the chances for top-scorer Pedro Manzi.
Manzi won't find it hard to get the goals but he needs those passes to get going. Coach Akbar Nawas will look to Sandro for that.
Minerva Punjab - Mahmoud Al Amna
The Minerva Punjab captain is a seasoned campaigner in Indian Football. Although Minerva did not perform to expectations this season behind the 2017-18 I-League champions, they have a chance to get something out of their last two games against Chennai City and Real Kashmir if Al Amna steps up. The Syrian is a hard-working midfielder but slow on the counter.
Chennai City v Minerva Punjab: Predictions
Chennai City suffered a hiccup last time around against Churchill Brothers and Nestor Gordillo's suspension will make the match against Minerva Punjab tricky. But they are expected to cruise past Minerva as the Punjab side has been faring poorly this season.
Predicted Score - Chennai City 3-1 Minerva Punjab
