East Bengal vs Chennaiyin: Preview and Prediction
Basement dwellers East Bengal will take on unpredictable Chennaiyin in ‘Match 79’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season at the Athletic Stadium on Tuesday.
East Bengal is having a campaign to forget and the season simply cannot end soon enough for them. With only 9 points from 14 matches, the Red and Golds are placed at the very bottom of the standings.
On the other hand, Chennaiyin has had a roller-coaster ride, one week being a part of the top three and then switching allegiances with the mid-table group next week. The Marina Machans are occupying the seventh position having accumulated 18 points from 13 matches.
Current Form
East Bengal is the only team to have lost their last two matches. Mario Rivera’s men are lacking conviction and will come into this match on the back of a 3-1 defeat against arch-rivals ATK Mohun Bagan in the Kolkata Derby.
In the match before that, they were handed a 4-0 drubbing against Hyderabad. These two defeats diminished the very little hopes of a revival the Red and Golds’ loyalists had after a 2-1 win against Goa.
Chennaiyin has picked up four points in their last three fixtures. Like their opposition, Bozidar Bandovic’s men too will be found wanting in confidence ahead of this tie, since they suffered a 3-0 Southern Derby loss in their last match against Bengaluru.
It was the Marina Machans’ first defeat in nearly three weeks, as before taking on the Blues, they won 2-1 against NorthEast United and played out a 1-1 stalemate against Hyderabad.
Head to Head Record
It is very rare in this competition when a fixture produces recurring draws, but it is the case here as all three meetings between Chennaiyin and East Bengal have ended in stalemates.
The first meeting of this season resulted in a goalless draw, where Bandovic’s team dominated the game from first to finish and took 24 shots, but such was East Bengal’s resilience that the deadlock could not be broken.
Team News
Nerijus Valskis could make a comeback in the Chennaiyin starting XI
Rivera is expected to make three changes to the East Bengal starting XI, one of them being a forced change. Ankit Mukherjee sustained an injury in the match against ATK Mohun Bagan and is likely to be replaced by Amarjit Singh Kiyam.
Besides that, we can also see changes in personnel on both wings. Thongkhosiem Haokip could get the nod ahead of Naorem Mahesh while new signing Fran Sota is likely to replace Wahengbam Luwang.
Bandovic is also expected to make a few tweaks to his team after a disappointing performance against Bengaluru. Reagan Singh can take up Mohd Sajid Dhot’s place in the back three with Ninthoi Meetei operating as the right wing-back.
Suhail Pasha could be deployed in the middle of the park in place of Germanpreet Singh, given the latter’s subpar display against the Blues. Lastly, Nerijus Valskis is expected to lead to lines, dropping Lukasz Gikiewicz to the bench.
Predicted Starting Lineups
East Bengal (4-4-2): Arindam Bhattacharja; Amarjit Singh Kiyan, Adil Khan, Franjo Prce, Hira Mondal; Thongkhosiem Haokip, Darren Sidoel, Saurav Das, Fran Sota; Marcelo Ribeiro, Antonio Perosevic.
Chennaiyin (3-5-2): Debjit Majumder; Reagan Singh, Slavko Damjanovic, Narayan Das; Ninthoi Meetei, Vladimir Koman, Suhail Pasha, Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Mirlan Murzaev, Nerijus Valskis.
Prediction
Though Chennaiyin has not been convincing in their recent run of fixtures, they have enough quality players in their ranks to seal three points against a struggling East Bengal side. Hence, we have predicted a 1-0 scoreline in the Marina Machans’ favor.