Kolkata giants SC East Bengal are still looking for their maiden win in the Indian Super League (ISL). After joining the flourishing league with much fanfare, and with Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler at the helm, they expected to hit the ground running from day one. But, ISL hasn't been kind to it's latest club. But a win can change it all, and East Bengal believe it will come sooner than later. Probably against NorthEast United FC on Saturday. But easier said... (More Football News)
East Bengal are yet to score in the league and have conceded five goals in their first two fixtures. They lost to ATK Mohun Bagan and Mumbai City FC and are languishing at the bottom of the ISL points table. But Fowler believes that it was individual errors that cost his side the points.
"In all honesty, I will love to have them (more reinforcement) in all areas of the park. But I can't complain because we have what we have. Individual errors have cost us," Fowler said on the eve of the match against Northeast United.
Meanwhile, NorthEast will aim to carry on with their positive start to the season.
Gerard Nus' side won its opening match before being held to back-to-back draws. They have five points from three games and occupy the third spot.
"We want to compete. We are going in a good direction. We have to improve a lot. The goal for this season is to be competitive. We have to take one game at a time. We will do everything we can to win," said Nus.
Nus knows it will be a challenging task grabbing all three points against the Kolkata giants.
"We will not have only one plan. We are focussing on ourselves. We watched them play and they did not have the results they wanted. But they are going to be difficult and a threat to us. It will be a tough game," the Spaniard said. "We know how good they are with the ball. They are well organised during set-pieces. We are going to stop them and create chances against them. That's the plan."
With both sides letting their opponents have most of the ball in their previous matches and preferring to attack on the counter, Saturday's clash will make for interesting viewing.
Head-to-head: This will their first-ever meeting in the Indian Super League.
All you need to know about the NorthEast United FC vs SC East Bengal:
Match: 17th match of ISL 2020-21 between NorthEast United FC and SC East Bengal
Date: December 5 (Saturday), 2020.
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Tilak Maidan in Vasco, 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.
Starting XIs:
Northeast United: Subhasish Roy Chowdhury; Ashutosh Mehta, Benjamin Lambot, Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar; Lalengmawia, Khassa Camara, Lalrempuia Fanai; Ninthoinganba Meetei, Kwesi Appiah, Luis Machado.
SC East Bengal: Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Mohammed Irshad, Rana Gharami; Surchandra Chandam, Matti Steinman, Mohammed Rafique, Abhishek Ambekar; Jacques Maghoma, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Anthony Pilkington.
Squads:
NorthEast United FC: Goalkeepers - Sanjiban Ghosh, Subhasish Roy, Gurmeet, Nikhil Deka; Defenders - Ashutosh Mehta, Benjamin Lambot, Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar, Mashoor Shereef, Nabin Rabha, Nim Dorjee, Provat Lakra, Wayne Vaz, Rakesh Pradhan; Midfielders - Federico Gallego, Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia, Imran Khan, Lalrempuia Fanai, Pragyan Gogoi, Rochharzela; Forwards - Idrissa Sylla, Luis Machado, Kwesi Appiah, Britto PM, Khumanthem Ninthoinganba Meetei, Lalkhawpuimawia, Suhair Vadakkepeedika.
Head coach - Gerard Nus (Spain)
SC East Bengal: Goalkeepers - Debjit Majumder, Rafique Ali, Mirshad Michu, Sankar Roy; Defenders - Daniel Fox, Scott Neville, Gurtej Singh, Narayan Das, Lalramchullova, Abhishek Ambekar, Rana Gharami, Samad Mallick, Mohamed Irshad, Ningthoukhongjam Rohen, Anil Chawan, Novin Gurung, Pritam Soraisam; Midfielders - Aaron Hammadi-Holloway, Anthony Pilkington, Matti Steinman, Jacques Maghoma, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Bikash Jairu, Sehnaj Singh, Surchandra Chandam, Moirangthem Loken Meitei, Haobam Tomba, Milan Oinam, Wahengbam Luwang, Mohamed Rafique, Yumnam Gopi; Forwards - Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, CK Vineeth, Girik Khosla, Harmanpreet Singh.
Head coach -Robbie Fowler (England)
