As the title suggests, both these two sides are in, quite frankly, disgusting form and something has to give as FC Pune City and Chennaiyin FC duke it out in a real bottom scrap. I wish there was relegation in this league because these two would be a sure-fire bet for relegation unless something drastically changes.
As we mentioned yesterday in the preview for Kerala’s match against Bengaluru, which was a match at the other end of the table, Pune managed a draw last time. That means they now have twice as many points as Chennaiyin. In case you didn’t read yesterday’s preview, let me just quickly run down the Kerala match from you:
The last time out
Pune took the lead after 13 minutes thanks to Marko Stankovic. He then promptly got served a blow by the hand of fate and was taken off with an injury roughly ten minutes later. Emiliano Alfaro missed a penalty that could have put Pune 2-0 up in the second half, his second missed in as many games. Nikola Krcmarevic then turned around and secured a point for Kerala five minutes later.
So Pune’s two points sees them, as mentioned, on double the amount of points that Chennaiyin have. Because Chennaiyin have been even worse than Pune, somehow, yet the results may not tell the entire story. They have only one draw, against Mumbai, but all the losses they have accumulated, five in total, have been by a single goal.
Number’s game
In baseball, Billy Beane tried to win the title using statistics and looking at the numbers Chennaiyin should be doing better than they are. In four of the six games they’ve played they’ve had more shots than their opposition. They’ve had almost the same or more possession than their opponents in all the matches, the biggest difference being against Goa when they had 20% less. Shots on target have been relatively good as well, never being massively outdone.
So all the stats point towards Chennaiyin sitting somewhere around mid-to-top half, yet they sit at rock bottom. They just can’t score.
Speaking of managers, John Gregory has got to be feeling a little sweaty in what is surely a very hot seat under his bum at the Marina Arena. If he doesn’t win this one I honestly don’t think we’ll see him lead the team come the Jamshedpur match on the 25th. The two-week break coming up would be an ideal time to sack him and have quite good time to bring in a new coach. But if Gregory could live to fight another day he would see the break as an ideal way to get his team back on the right track.
Prediction
The above stats and the fact that they only have narrow losses should suggest Chennaiyin have a leg up on Pune, but theoretically, Pune are in better form with a draw in the last game. Coming full circle, something has to give and I think Chennaiyin will be the side to finally get a win this season.
