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Simao Sabrosa made a heroic debut for NorthEast United against Chennaiyin FC, converting a controversial penalty, as the Highlanders broke their losing streak and registered their first win of ISL season 2. But this time around they face the defending champions Atletico De Kolkata, whom they have never beaten in the ISL.
Kolkata come into the match on the back of their disappointing 1-0 loss to FC Pune City. The defending champions looked totally out of shape as they travelled to Pune last week. Jackiechand Singh caught the Kolkata defence off guard as early as the second minute of the game and scored the fastest goal of the season. Atletico Kolkata could not really recover from the early strike, losing their first match of the season.
NorthEast won their first match of the season two days ago while Kolkata lost their first match last time around. Now both these teams prepare for an interesting face-off.
Kickoff Time and Telecast
Live Telecast: StarSports 2, StarSports HD2, Star Gold (Hindi)
Live Stream: starsports.com
Date and Time: Monday, 23rd October 2015 – 1900 IST
Venue: Indira Gandhi Stadium, Sarusajai, Guwahati
Live Updates on Sportskeeda
Team News
The home team is boosted by the arrival of their marquee player Simao Sabrosa, who was substituted in the 74th minute of their match against Chennaiyin. The bad news, however, for NEUFC fans is that the Portuguese star is still not match fit and is unlikely to start if assistant coach Santosh Kashyap is to be believed. The last match also saw Argentine forward Nicholas Velez scoring his second goal after coming on as a substitute in the 54th minute. The team has no active injury issues and finally Coach Cesar Farias has a full team to experiment with and rotate.
The problems of conversion is persistent in every team because of the compact defence in the league-Santosh Kashayap, Assistant Coach, NEUFC
New signing Andre Bikey too played an instrumental role in keeping the defence intact. The tall man made some really good blocks on the left, particularly tackling Bruno and Jayesh Rane. Holicharan made his debut last match and looked extremely fluid on the wings.
All in all NorthEast is a refreshed team and the Venezuelan coach would really like to use the fresh legs available. NorthEast cannot afford a defeat at this point.
Kolkata, on the other hand, have injury troubles of their own. Marquee player Helder Postiga is already out injured and the team awaits an update on his fitness. And now Japanese-born Indian forward Arata Izumi is in the injury list and has not travelled with the team. Both the players have scored 2 goals each of the total six scored by the team as a whole so far. The attacking department, therefore, would be led by Canadian striker Iain Hume. They will, however, be boosted by the return of Baljit Sahni who is now available after serving a two-match ban.
The defence would be lead by ex-Liverpool defender Jose Gonzalves alongside Arnab Mondol. Coach Antonio Lopez Habas would have worked out where things went wrong in last match and would look to rectify things in Guwahati. Also, as mentioned in the pre-match conference, Habas has managed South American countries like Bolivia for more than 100 matches and hence understands Cesar Farias’s tactics very well.
Starting XI and Formation
NorthEast United FC (4-4-2):
Rehenesh TP, Reagan Singh, Ralte, Cedric Hengbart, Andre Bikey, Sanju Pradhan, Siam Hanghal, Kamara, Silas, Francis Dadzie, Nicolas Velez
Atletico de Kolkata (4-2-3-1):
Amrinder, Mondal, Anto, Josemi, Augustin, Gavilan, Borja, Nadong Bhutia, Sahni, Lara, Hume
Key Battles
Nicholas Velez vs Rino Anto
The battle between Nicholas Velez and the Indian defender will be one to look out for. Velez who came on late as a substitute in NorthEast’s last match has been one player who has been incredibly quick and has scored 2 goals for the team. He creates good space for himself and makes it difficult for the defence to catch him. The problem, however, for him is that most of the time he goes a little too deep to execute a shot or a cross.
The Atletico defence is a compact one. If Velez is denied space within and around the box, half the problem for any opposition is already solved. Rino Anto has been good at marking players. If he is successful in trapping this player, it will be really difficult for NEUFC to score. Also, marking Sanju Pradhan or Holicharan here would be viable for Atletico as they are the primary supply line to Velez or Kamara up front.
Hume vs Bikey
Hume is one headache which every opposition fears. The Scotland-born Canadian striker contributed a lot in making Kolkata the eventual champions of ISL season one and even this time around he has been the player to look out for. NEUFC defence has to be particularly aware of his pace, especially during counter attacks. Hume displays excellent footwork with strength.
The wall of NEUFC against Hume has to be the new signing Andre Bikey. The Cameroon defender must utilise his height and strength to counter Hume. Bikey isn’t fast, so you can expect him to stay behind and mark Hume during a counter attack.
Prediction
NorthEast United 1-1 Atletico Kolkata
