BFC look to garner all three points

Bengaluru FC will have their opportunity to get closer to Mohun Bag­an’s lead, when the reigning champions go head-to-head with a ‘handicapped’ East Bengal side in their I-League clash at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.

Bengaluru find themselves in the second spot with 28 points, four behind leaders Bagan.Even a win will not bring Bengaluru level on points with the leaders and a better head-to-head record would anyway have seen the Mariners maintaining the top spot.

Meanwhile, East Bengal, placed fourth with 26 points from 15 games, would leapfrog Bengaluru to the second spot if they manage to extract three points from the tie.
The hosts come on the back of an impressive show in the AFC Cup where they rallied from a goal down to beat Maziya S&RC to book a place in the last 16 of the competition. And their coach Ashley Westwood believes that his team is set to carry on the good work into the final stages of the league.

“The side is confident going into the tie,” said the Englishman.“I wouldn't say we are over-confident. We can't take anything for granted, especially in Indian football. You never know what's going to happen on the day, performance-wise or otherwise. But we're confident in our own abilities,” asserted the coach who will have a fully-fit squad at his disposal for the tie.

The 2015 season has been testing for the Kolkata giants. Though Eelco Schattorie, who took over the side half-way into the  season, has done his bit to revive the fortunes of the side that looked on a journey towards wilderness in the initial stages, knows that the job is half done and the coming games will decide his future with the team.

Placed fourth on the table the visitors know that a top-two finish is still on the cards as the side will aim for three points from the tie.

Schattorie will be without the services of Milan Susak, Leon Bertos, Saumik Dey and Arnab Mondal who will miss out to injuries, while Robert Lalthlamuana will serve his suspension.

Dudu Omagbemi, Abhishek Das and Harmanjot Khabra will have to clear a late fitness test, if they are to make the field against the defending champions.

Top clashes

The game is expected to feature many sub plots when the two teams take the field in front of what usually has been a very vocal crowd.

With the likes of Ranti Martins, the league’s top scorer, up against them, it will be interesting to see how the BFC’s back four shape up against the Nigerian’s swift movements that has had many defenders in the league wanting for answers.

The midfield will also play host to a number of battles when Bengaluru’s Joshua Walker and Eugenson Lyndoh try to assert their supremacy against East Bengal’s Mehtab Hossain and Mohammed Rafique.For now, one can’t deny that the stage is set for a blockbuster of a clash.