It is the time when the ISL new entrants SC East Bengal locks horn with the Northeast United FC in their 3rd match of the campaign. One comes from the place with rich history of club football, whereas the other comes from the hotbed of football lovers.
NEUFC will certainly look to keep another cleansheet after playing some brilliant football in the last couple of matches while being unbeaten.
SCEB on the other hand will look to start their winning momentum from this match onwards. In the last few matches the results haven’t been what they would expect, so they would certainly try to change it.
Indian players to look out for in both teams
NorthEast United has a very young set of Indian players. Among them, Apuia Ralte has been a rock solid in the holding mid while Ashutosh Mehta has also been very impressive with his gameplay in the wingback position and last but not the least the young gun Ninthoi has been very impressive in the wings.
East Bengal on the other hand has the most experienced Indian contingent of players. Among them, Jeje one the best finisher of the recent Indian side is with them while they got the service of experienced midfielder Mohammed Rafique and also the young midfielder Surchandra Singh.
Foreign players to look out for in both teams
NEUFC has a good foreign contingent out of whom Dylan Fox, Benjamin Lambot and Khassa Camara have been impeccable in their team. Also both their foreign strikers have found the net continuously.
SCEB on the other hand made only 6 signings keeping 1 space for another foreign player. Among them, Jacques Maghoma, Anthony Pilkington and Ville Matti Steinmann are the one to watch out for.
Injuries
SCEB has Danny Fox and Loken Meitei who misses the match with injuries whereas Federico Gallego from NEUFC misses the match with a small niggle.
NorthEast United FC Probable XI
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Subhasish Roy Choudhary(GK), Gurjindar kumar(LB), Benjamin Lambot(CB), Dylan Fox(CB), Ashutosh Mehta(RB), Khassa Camara(CDM), Lalengmawia(CDM), Rempuia(CAM), Luis Machado(LWF), Ninthoi(RWF), Idrissa Sylla(CF)
SC East Bengal Probable XI
Formation: 3-3-3-1
Debjit Majumder (GK), Scott Neville (CB), Mohammed Irshad (CB), Rana Gharami (CB), Surchandra Singh (RWB), Narayan Das (LWB), Matti Steinman (CDM), Md. Rafique (CAM), Anthony Pilkington (LWF), Jacques Maghoma (RWF), Balwant Singh (CF)
Prediction
Looking at the previous results it is highly probable that NEUFC will have a confortable win, but it is football and anything can happen. SCEB may even give an upset to the Highlanders.