Nelo Vingada’s side managed to stop a four match losing run at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, drawing 1-1 with Atletico de Kolkata away but remain in seventh place, four points behind their opponents Pune.
FC Pune City find themselves in the middle of a four-team huddle in the middle of the table, separated by a point, courtesy of their thrilling 4-3 win against high-flying Delhi Dynamos.
For NorthEast United, they only have two home games left, having lost their last three in Guwahati. They had started strongly with two home wins against Kerala and Goa. Vingada spoke about the pressure of the game, “We may have missed chances and we had our opportunities to score but we couldn’t convert and finish the game and they (FC Goa and Atlético de Kolkata) ended up scoring in the last few minutes but we’re still not K.O’d, we’re still alive but tomorrow we have to win, we need to be strong and special.”
Nicolas Velez finally opened his account for this season’s ISL last time around and will support ISL’s top scorer, Emiliano Alfaro. Gustavo Lazzaretti, out with a ligament injury, will be replaced by Didier Zokora at the back.
Pune seem to be peaking at the right time, picking up three wins from their last four matches. Antonio Lopez Habas, suspended for the first four matches of the season, is taking nothing for granted.
“You saw two games back we were out of contention but now we are playing well again and we are back on track. We need to remain in the top four. We have to maintain balance to achieve the result. Let’s see on December 2, what’s our position,” said Habas.
The Stallions’ attack finally clicked last around as they scored four goals, two of those by Anibal Zurdo. Jonatan Lucca, who had a hand in three of those goals, will be key to Pune’s hopes.
Habas won’t be too happy with the defence but Rahul Bheke’s absence might mean that Dharmaraj Ravanan will have to start once again on the right.
Match Facts
Venue: Indira Gandhi Stadium, Guwahati
Capacity: 35,000
Time: 7 pm IST
Last meeting: FC Pune City 0-1 NorthEast United, 11th November 2016, Balewadi Sports Complex Stadium, Pune
Head-to-head: Matches: 5, NorthEast United wins: 2, FC Pune City wins: 2, Draws: 1
Key battles
Emiliano Alfaro vs Eduardo Ferreira: The 28-year Uruguyuan is the league’s highest scorer with five goals to his name but is suffering a mini-drought, not having scored in his last three appearances.
The 33-year old Brazilian born Ferreira has generally been solid for the Stallions but was not at his best against Delhi. Was culpable for atleast two of the goals and Habas will expect better this time around.
Expected line-ups
NorthEast United FC: Subrata Paul; Mailson Alves, Reagan Singh, Salam Ranjan Singh, Didier Zokora; Katsumi Yusa, Rowllin Borges, Seityasen Singh, Romaric; Emiliano Alfaro, Nico Velez
Pune City FC: Edel Bete; Narayan Das, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Eduardo Ferreira, Gouramangi Singh; Jonathan Lucca, Mohamed Sissoko; Arata Izumi, Momar Ndoye, Eugeneson Lyngdoh; Anibal Zurdo Rodriguez
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