KOLKATA: Emami East Bengal will look to end the year on a winning note as well as record their first home victory in the ongoing ISL season when they clash with Bengaluru FC at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Friday. They will definitely fancy their chances against a side who is struggling this season, managing only three wins in 11 games so far. On the road, Simon Grayson’s men have won just one out of their six games so far.
Coming after a welcome break, East Bengal will be boosted by the fact they had defeated their rivals in their previous encounter last month. “Three wins in 10 games is not good enough, but we have assessed the performance so far and the players are working hard in training. We just need to be patient because we are on the right track,” chief coach Stephen Constantine said on Thursday.
The two teams are now in a position where they can directly affect the other’s playoff qualification chances — as both teams have to do some catching up to be among the top six sides. With Bengaluru FC nine points and East Bengal ten points off sixth place, an outright result either way could be a big blow to the team that loses.
East Bengal have some injury problems and Constantine will take a late call on the playing XI based on the availability of the boys. With Ivan Gonzalez not in the best of form, there’s added pressure on young Lalchungnunga in defence. It’s time for Jerry Lalrinzuala and Aniket Jadhav to give their best too.
Grayson, on the other hand, will hope to see an end to his side’s goal drought this season and will look to Javi Hernández, Sunil Chhetri and Roy Krishna to come good. The team will love to return to their happy hunting ground where they defeated Mumbai City FC to lift the Durand Cup in August.
