Goa: Hyderabad FC focuses to bridge the gap between table leaders Mumbai City FC and jump to second as they take on SC East Bengal in the Indian Super League at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim.
Playing with one of the most balanced sides, the attack and defense of the Nizams look tandem. Joel Chianese has been impactful for Hyderabad having one goal and two assists in 282 minutes of this season. Chianese has played as the second striker behind Bart Ogbeche and has been replaced with Edu Garcia for a place in the starting XI. Hyderabad have digested five goals in six leagues, boosting the second-best defensive record after Chennaiyin FC this season. Manolo Marquez is determined to cut the gap at the top of the heap.”Every game is very difficult to win. SC East Bengal is just another game. We will try to win but we won’t see the opponents as being placed in the bottom. Indeed, SC East Bengal is not in the best of form but the three draws they have got this season came against teams in the top half of the table,” said Marquez.
SC East Bengal are in a different part of the story. With center-back Franjo Prce picking up a knock in the last game and Darren Sidoel is nursing an injury, the red and gold army had a poor defense and lacked sharpness in attack. They are also without Jackichand Singh and Ankit Mukherjee which doesn’t help their cause. Jose Manuel Diaz’s men are at the bottom of the table with three points from seven games. In the last game, they lost 0-2 to NorthEast United FC their best player Antonio Perosevic was sent off.”Like all matches we played, we want to win. Every match is different. This is the reason we are not winning. Our target is to win every match. Antonio (Peroseivc) will be missed, he was playing regularly but we have options in Chima, Semboi, and Balwant,” said Diaz.
