The two most successful teams in the Indian Super League are all set to entertain us once again as the two-time Champions, Chennaiyin FC is scheduled to host the three-time Champions, ATK (Now Newly formed entity – ATK Mohun Bagan) on 29th December (Tuesday) at the GMC Athletic Stadium Bambolim, Goa.
The Mariners are arriving to this battle with two consecutive victories and they are also aided by a 7-day long break which will give them an additional advantage over their opponents. On the other hand, the weary Marina Machans will participate in this contest after just having a day break from the Boxing Day Clash.
3 Indian Players to Watch Out in this Game
Anirudh Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Sandesh Jhingan are the three Indian Players to look out for in this match.
The Indian International “Thapa” is one of the main reasons for the dynamic performances in the Chennaiyin Midfield. He has also scored a goal in the opening fixture of this season and will hold the key along with Crivellaro & Chhangte for the Chennai’s success.
Chhangte has now begun to show his calibre and did well in the last game against East Bengal. He will look to replicate his previous performance and will be the main stray in Chennai’s attack.
The seasoned Indian veteran defender Sandesh Jhingan has already given excellent performances in this season. Jhingan will prove as a difficult menace to penetrate and he might cause a lot of trouble for the misfiring Chennaiyin Strikers
3 Foreign Players to Watch Out in this Game
Roy Krishna, Jakub Sylvestr and Rafael Crivellaro are the three overseas players to look out for in this match.
The Fiji International has already lit this season with five goals and is in the contention for the Golden Boot. He is one of the main reasons for ATKMB’s success in last season as well as for the current season. Krishna is always a threat for the defenders as he could snatch a few goals from the counter-attack. He would bring the best out of himself in this match and could turn the game in a jiffy.
The last few weeks of the Indian Super League have turned out to be a nightmare for Jakub Sylvestr and he is currently not having a good time in the middle. The Slovakian Striker did not fire as expected and just managed to score a solitary goal in the 7 matches. But he has taken the most shots on targets than any other Strikers in this year’s ISL. Recently he has put a lot of hard work in his game and had delivered two assists for the team in the last game. Now with the stakes on the line, he will look to prove his worth by giving out everything.
Crivellaro is the celebrated superstar of the Chennaiyin Team and he was one of the reasons for the team’s recent success against Goa. The Midfield engine scored a goal from a direct corner and has already provided two assists in this season. He will look to add a lot more to his tally and will try to take his team home with his Brazilian Magic.
Injuries
Javi Hernandez had picked a groin injury earlier in this season and didn’t feature in the last three matches. He is the only injury concern for the Men in Maroon and Green and is still expected to remain on the side-lines.
In the Blue Camp, Esmael Goncalves, Fanai and Enes Sipovic are the injury concerns. Isma and Enes might feature in the squad but may not play the entire 90 minutes.
The Expected Line Up of Chennaiyin FC
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Vishal Kaith (GK), Jerry Lalrinzuala (LB), Eli Sabia (CB), Memo Moura (CB), Reagan Singh (RB), Anirudh Thapa (DM), Deepak Tangri (DM), Lallianzuala Chhangte (LW), Rafael Crivellaro (AM), Rahim Ali (RW), Jakub Sylvestr (ST)
Substitutes:
Karanjit Singh (GK), Esmael Goncalves, Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Lalchhuanmawia, Dhanpal Ganesh, Enes Sipovic, Fatkhullo Fathulloev, Aimol Reamsochung, Abhijit Sarkar.
The Expected Line Up of ATK Mohun Bagan
Formation: 3-1-4-2
Arindam Bhattacharya (GK), Sandesh Jhingan (CB), Tiri (CB), Pritam Kotal (CB), Carl McHugh (DM), Subhasish Bose (LWB), Jayesh Rane (CM), Edu Garcia (CM), Prabir Das (RWB), Roy Krishna (ST), David Williams (ST)
Substitutes:
Avliash Paul (GK), Brad Inman, Sumit Rathi, Pronay Halder, Manvir Singh, Boris Singh, Glan Martins, Sheikh Sahil, Michael Regin.
Head to Head:
The Two Powerhouses of the ISL will be battling it out each other for the third time in 2020 with both the teams winning a game each.
This will be the first match between Chennaiyin FC and the Newly formed ATK Mohun Bagan.
But Chennai has faced ATK in the past and let us now look at how these teams fared against each other:
Played – 15 Matches
CFC – 4 Victories
ATK– 7 Victories
Draws – 4 Matches
Recent Fixture – ATK (Won) 3 -1 (Lost) CFC (March 14, 2020 ISL 2019-20 Finals)
Predictions:
A Draw seems highly unlikely as both the teams will rely very much on their pacy wingers to score the goals. This will be thrilling neck to neck encounter as both favour open gameplay. ATK Mohun Bagan are currently in a good form and they will look to maintain their momentum with a win whereas Chennai will hope to modify their mistakes and will look to put a better performance to gain 3 points.
ATK has always edged past Chennaiyin FC on numerous occasions and now they (ATKMB) are the favourites to win this match. A week-long break will also give a huge advantage for them to move to the Top of the Table.
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