Gianluca Zambrotta must be a happy man. His team are closing in on a semifinal appearance in his first season as a ISL manager.
The Italian’s high-pressing tactics saw off ex-Azzuri teammate Marco Materazzi’s Chennaiyin FC 4-1 at home in a repeat of their performance at the Marina Arena in their first game of the season.
Delhi are eyeing a fourth win on the bounce but will be wary of the fact that their only loss this season came against the inaugural champions of the ISL. “It was a good match and we lost against a very good team, so it’s not revenge but it’s a special motive for us to focus on this team because it’s the only team we have lost to, so for this reason we will try to concentrate on this match,” Zambrotta responded when reminded of the fact.
Chinglensana Singh and Richard Gadze are injury doubts for this match and could be replaced by Lalchawnkima and Badara Badji in the line-up. Those will be the only changes to a settled line-up that could come within one point of qualification for the play-offs should they win this match.
Atletico de Kolkata, on the other hand, boast the most exciting frontline this season but they have failed to light up matches much like other attacks of the ISL, scoring only 9 goals in their 8 games this season. In fact, the Dynamos are the only team to score more than 10, notching up 16 strikes this season.
The defence, which looked unsure in the 2-1 loss to Pune last time around, cannot afford to slip up against the likes of Kean Lewis and Marcelinho. Tiri will join Arnab Mondal in the centre of defence in order to ensure just that.
Sameehg Doutie’s pace could come in handy against a Delhi side that like to play with a high line but his poor showing in the first half against Pune could mean that he makes way for Javi Lara. Helder Postiga will lead the line for Kolkata.
Match Facts
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
Capacity: 60,000
Time: 7 pm IST
Last meeting:October 22nd 2016, Delhi Dynamos 0-1 Atletico De Kolkata, at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, Kolkata
Head-to-head: Matches: 5, Delhi wins: 1, Atletico wins 1, Draws: 3
Key Battles
Kean Lewis vs Pritam Kotal: The 24-year old attacker from Delhi is one of the few Indian attackers to leave his mark on this season’s competition.
Lewis has pace to burn, and has an eye for goal as evidenced by three assists in this year’s competition. Kotal, the Indian international right-back, has been erratic and will have to stick close to the Delhi winger.
Javi Lara vs Souvik Chakraborty: The influential Spaniard has failed to knuckle down a place in the starting line-up as Jose Molina has opted to rotate his attackers around.
Souvik, the central midfielder by trade, had been playing as a right-back for the Dynamos before being deployed on the left by Zambrotta. Hasn’t looked the most comfortable, and will have to close down Lara.
Expected Line-ups
Delhi Dynamos FC: Antonio Doblas Santana; Ruben Gonzalez Rocha, Anas Edathodika, Lalchhawnkima, Souvik Chakraborty; Florent Malouda, Marcos Tebar, Milan Singh; Badara Badji, Marcelinho, Kean Lewis
Atlético de Kolkata: Debjit Majumder; Tiri, Arnab Mondal, Pritam Kotal, Robert Lalthlamuana; Borja Fernandez, Stephen Pearson; Lalrindika Ralte, Iain Hume, Javi Lara; Helder Postiga
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