After three consecutive draws, Hyderabad FC will look for a win against bottom-placed SC East Bengal in match 29 of Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 at Tilak Maidan, Vasco, on Tuesday. (More Football News)
The Nizams are unbeaten after four games, but their inability to score has been a major concern. They have scored just one goal from open play (3 altogether) and have the least shot accuracy of 20.68 per cent in this campaign. However, Hyderabad coach Manuel Marquez brushed off claims regarding any pressure on his side.
"For me, pressure is if you are at the bottom or these kind of things - sorry because East Bengal are at the bottom. But our team is playing good football and we don't have pressure,” Marquez said.
There have been injury concerns too, with many of their foreign players missing, forcing the domestic players to step up. Marquez was in fact delighted with their performance. "For me, the best thing at this moment is to know is that the performance of these guys without foreigners is fantastic and we have to improve as fast as we can," he added.
Albeit East Bengal's poor start, Marquez knows it wouldn’t be any easy outing. "I think East Bengal is growing, and they had chances to score in their matches against ATK Mohun Bagan, Mumbai and NorthEast United when the scores were even. If we change our style because East Bengal has not scored any goals, it will be wrong. We know that we have possibilities to win the game if we play in our style," Marquez said.
While Hyderabad are unbeaten, SC East Bengal are yet to record a win this season. After suffering three straight defeats, the Red & Golds showed some determination in their last game against JFC, holding on to get a point despite playing with a man down for more than an hour.
Coach Robbie Fowler sounded positive for their team’s performance and said, “The motivation is always there to win every single game. We are a team with great work ethic. The togetherness from this team is brilliant. We are full of fighters,” he said.
Head-to-head: This is their first-ever meeting in ISL.
All you need to know about the Hyderabad FC Vs SC East Bengal match:
Match: 29th match of ISL 2020-21 between Hyderabad FC and SC East Bengal
Date: December 15 (Tuesday), 2020.
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: GMC Stadium in Bambolim, Goa
TV Listing: Star Sports 1/HD, Star Sports 2/HD (English); Star Sports Hindi 1/HD, Star Sports 3, Star Gold 2 (Hindi), Asianet Plus, Asianet Movies (Malayalam); Star Sports Bangla; Star Sports Kannada; Star Sports Tamil; Star Sports Telugu and Star Sports Marathi.
Live Streaming: Online streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar VIP and JioTV.
All ISL 2020-21 matches will be shown live and can be streamed live in 82 territories across the world. Check worldwide coverage details HERE.
Likely XIs:
Hyderabad FC: Laxmikant Kattimani; Asish Rai, Odei Onaindia, Chinglensena Konsham, Akash Mishra; Joao Victor, Hitesh Sharma; Nikhil Poojary, Mohammad Yasir, Halicharan Narzary; Aridane Santana.
SC East Bengal: Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Sehnaj Singh, Mohammed Irshad; Mohammed Rafique, Wahengbam Angousana, Matti Steinman, Narayan Das; Jacques Maghoma, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Anthony Pilkington.