Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa will face off this Saturday. This is one of most exciting fixtures history of ISL, The two teams have given us some extraordinary matches including 2015 ISL, last seasons semi-finals, a nine-goal thriller to name a few. The 11 matches played between these two teams have given us 40 goals.
Both teams would be coming into this game with disappointment over results in their previous fixtures. Chennaiyin dominated Bengaluru but failed to score and ended up losing the game. FC Goa, on the other hand, managed to put a fine attacking display against NorthEast but a few errors by their defence and goalkeeper helped NorthEast escape with a draw.
Lineup and Tactics
Expected starting lineup of Chennaiyin FCJohn Gregory will use likely stick to his 4-3-3 formation from last game, He did surprise me when He fielded a midfield three last game but managed to put a dominating attacking performance.
Expected starting lineup of GC GoaFC Goa will use their usual 4-2-3-1 formation with Coro will gain being the centre of attention for their attack. FC Goa though would badly miss Edu Bedia and Brandon Fernandes who are serving a three-match suspension carried from Super Cup last season.
I am intrigued to see how John Gregory will approach this game. He successfully outplayed FC Goa on multiple occasions last season when prefer to sit back and play on the counter-attack. His tactics against Bengaluru different in the last game were completely different with The Blue Marines were dominant in possession, Played out from the back and the midfield three looked fluid often interchanging positions among themselves. The problem in Chennaiyin’s new style of play is their front three. Gregory Nelson was amazing but found no support from Jeje and Francis Fernandes who looked out of sorts in this system.
Sergio Lobera at FC Goa has probably built one of most exciting teams in the history of ISL. He loves to dominate possession and uses spaces between the defence and midfield of the opposition to build attacks. Lobera also prefers having players who are quick on the ball at attacking positions. Defence of FC Goa has always been a big let down, last season they failed to have a clean sheet in their first 14 games and their defensive performance in the last game against NorthEast was underwhelming.
SUMMARY
We can expect some end to end football if John Gregory sets up his team similar to the last game. Chennaiyin FC always bounced back after a failure last season and I expect them to do the same on Saturday.
