Chennaiyin vs Goa: Preview and Prediction
Chennaiyin and Goa, two teams who are desperate to get a move on, will clash in a hugely important tie in ‘Match 86’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Wednesday.
After a promising start to their campaign, Chennaiyin has completely lost the plot and will now need to embark on a winning spree if they want to qualify for the semi-finals. With 19 points from 15 matches, the Marina Machans are placed at eighth position in the league standings.
On the other hand, Goa has been poor right from the start of the season, barring a few occasional days of joy. The Gaurs are occupying the ninth position having accumulated 15 points from as many matches.
Current Form
Confidence and self-belief will certainly be lacking in both camps, given their unsatisfactory performances in the recent weeks. Chennaiyin and Goa are among the four teams who have not only any of their last three matches. In their previous three fixtures, the Marina Machans gathered only a solitary point.
Despite putting up a resilient show, Bozidar Bandovic’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat against Mumbai City in their last match. Before taking on the Islanders, they drew 2-2 against East Bengal and were handed a 3-0 defeat by Bengaluru.
Goa has picked up two points from their last three matches. One of those points came in the previous fixture against Odisha where Derrick Pereira’s men secured a 1-1 draw, courtesy of a late Alexander Romario Jesuraj goal.
It was an important draw, as they were handed a 1-0 defeat by Jamshedpur only three days ago. Before taking on the Red Miners, the Gaurs played out another 1-1 draw against Bengaluru.
Head to Head Record
Albeit by a narrow margin, Goa holds the upper hand in terms of head-to-head records as they have won 10 of the 20 meetings against Chennaiyin. The two-time champions have emerged victorious eight times, while a couple of matches have ended in stalemates.
The first meeting of this season saw the Gaurs snatching a 1-0 triumph. The deadlock could not be broken until the 82nd minute when Jorge Ortiz sealed all three points for Pereira’s team.
Team News
Alexander Romario Jesuraj can be handed a start in this match
Bandovic is expected to make two changes to the team that lost 1-0 against Mumbai City. Lithuanian striker Nerijus Valskis’ poor run of form continued in the last match as he was barely influential.
Valskis is likely to make way for Mirlan Murzaev, while midfielder Suhail Pasha is also expected to be dropped to the bench. Ariel Borysiuk can slot in his usual midfield role, while for the vacant defensive position, the Montenegrin tactician can select Reagan Singh.
From Pereira, we can expect three changes in the Gaurs’ starting XI. Jesuraj can be rewarded for his goal against the Kalinga Warriors with a starting role, while Saviour Gama could be also be reinstated in the backline.
They are likely to replace Makan Chothe and Aiban Dohling respectively. Besides that, the National Football League winning coach can also change his goalkeeper, with Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem expected to get the nod ahead of Naveen Kumar.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Chennaiyin (3-4-1-2): Debjit Majumder; Reagan Singh, Slavko Damjanovic, Narayan Das; Ninthoinganba Meetei, Ariel Borysiuk, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Lukasz Gikiewicz, Mirlan Murzaev.
Goa (4-2-3-1): Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem; Seriton Fernandes, Ivan Gonzalez, Anwar Ali, Saviour Gama; Princeton Rebello, Edu Bedia; Alexander Romario Jesuraj; Alberto Noguera, Brandon Fernandes; Airam Cabrera.
Prediction
While both sides are going through a difficult phase, Chennaiyin seems to have a slightly more compact squad on paper. Hence, we have predicted a 1-0 win for the Marina Machans.