Indian Football League

Match 39: HFC vs. SCEB

Preview

Just like last year, Hyderabad has been brilliant and they are playing as a team and that’s their biggest strength in the tournament. Like Hyderabad, the red and gold brigade is also playing like last year. With not a single win in the first seven matches of the league, the team is right at the bottom and probably has lost all their will. Coach Manuel is on the verge of getting sacked and the former Real Madrid assistant coach can do very little about that.

Interestingly, the team isn’t as bad this year. Everyone expected East Bengal to finish in the middle of the table but they failed to step up every time the fans expected from them. The coach needs to take the blame as his players lacked discipline in the pitch and made errors that could have been easily avoided. According to reports, two of their foreign players will also be leaving the club in the winter transfer window and the club is already looking for new additions. The end result may change in a couple of matches but firstly the club needs to change their approach. There was a lot of hype regarding Chima but the player failed massively in the subcontinent. Thus, it proves that the recruitment has been pathetic and the owner of this historic club doesn’t care much about it. Things probably would have been very different if the matches were played in Kolkata as that would have added so much extra pressure but till now, the players and the management have failed to understand the importance of the jersey. Tomislav Mrcela is going to be the most important player for the club. Antonio Persosevic’s absence will bother the club and they might just have a defensive approach in the match.

Coach Manuel Dias in the pre match press conference kept it simple. He expressed his desire to win the game by saying, “The goal has been the same: to win every match we play and we go against Hyderabad with the same approach”.

Hyderabad will be a confident side. They did fail to win their last match against Goa but they are the favourites against East Bengal. The 25-year-old defender Chinglensana Singh has been absolutely brilliant for the club and he will have the responsibility to keep the torch bearers quiet. Also, look out for Bartholomew Ogbeche. Against a shaky defense like that of East Bengal’s, Ogbeche will be looking to increase his goal tally. Along with Joel Chianese, the striker will look to run havoc and the giants from Kolkata might just have a very difficult time.

Hyderabad’s Coach Manuel Marquez in the pre match press conference said, “We will try to win, but we don’t think that East Bengal is now in the last position or not. We have to play with our style and try to win the game”.

HFC vs. SCEB Predicted Line Ups

HFC – Laxmikant Kattimani (GK); Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Juanan, Akash Mishra, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor (c); Rohit Danu, Joel Chianese, Nikhil Poojari, Bartholomew Ogbeche

SCEB - Arindam Bhattacharya (c & GK), Raju Gaikwad, Tomislav Mrcela, Franjo Prce, Hira Mondal; Sourav Das, Amir Dervišević, Mohammed Rafique, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Daniel Chima Chukw

Match Prediction

Hyderabad are of course the favourites for the match. A lot is at stake for the red and gold brigade as this match will decide the fate of their coach and some of their players. Bartholomew Ogbeche will be very critical for the Hyderabad side and East Bengal needs to keep him quiet at any cost. 

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