It’s matchday six of the Indian Super League and the Delhi Dynamos become the last team to start their campaign as they face last season’s champions Chennaiyin FC, who drew 2-2 against Atletico de Kolkata in their season opener.
In the dugouts facing each other will be two friends, teammates and World Cup-winning defenders – one half of the famous Italian backline that conceded only one goal from open play en route to winning the World Cup in 2006, Chennaiyin FC’s Marco Materazzi and Delhi Dynamos’ Gianluca Zambrotta.
While it is true that both know little of the other as managers, they are pretty familiar with each other’s playing styles. In Materazzi’s case, there is a significant difference between his team’s shape and set-up and the way that he approached the game as a hard-nosed defender.
In Chennaiyin’s case, it was good luck that they came away from Kolkata with a point as both goals had an element of good fortune in them, Jayesh Rane benefitting off Jeje Lalpekhlua’s scuffed shot for the first and Hans Mulder’s shot took a wicked deflection to wrong foot Debjit Majumder, the ATK goalie. If his team defends in a similar way to the first game, he will need some more good fortune to get a point or more from this match.
John Arne Riise, Bernard Mendy and Mehrajuddin Wadoo were all neat and tidy in defence while Nallapan Mohanraj got skinned by Sameehg Doutie too many times for his manager’s liking. The only other left-back in the squad, Dhanachandra Singh is out injured. While marquee John Arne Riise can play left-back, Chennaiyin would have draft in Eder or Eli Sabia at centre-back exceeding the limit on six foreign players in the line-up.
Davide Succi and Jeje should be the ones leading the line for Chennaiyin, with Raphael Augusto, Rane and Mulder expected to retain their places in the midfield diamond. Former Atletico man Baljit Sahni started on the right last time but was ineffective and may be replaced by the returning Thoi Singh.
For Delhi, some old faces return as Anas Edathodika, Toni Doblas and Souvik Chakraborty are expected to take up their old places as centre-back, goalkeeper and right-back respectively. Ruben Gonzalez is expected to partner Anas at the heart of defence while Chinglensana Singh should get the nod at left-back.
Zambrotta will, in all probability, opt for one up top as Richard Gadze will reprise his role as sole striker, ably supported by marquee player Florent Malouda, who returns to the Dynamos for a second successive season. Ex-Chennaiyin man Bruno Pelissari should fill in at midfield while Kean Lewis, Denson Devadas and Milan Singh may also get starts.
Match Facts
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Chennai
Capacity: 45,000
Time: 7 pm IST.
Last meeting: Chennaiyin FC 4 - 0 Delhi Dynamos FC, November 24, 2015, at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Chennai
Head-to-head: Matches played: 4. Chennaiyin wins: 1, Delhi wins: 2, Draws: 1
Key Battles
John Arne Riise vs Richard Gadze: The ex-Liverpool man will start at centre-back and will spearhead Chennaiyin's defence along with Bernard Mendy. His defensive skills will be tested to the fore when he comes up against Ghanian Richard Gadze.
In his first season with the capital club, Gadze scored four goals and acted as the focal point of Delhi's attack in their run to the semi-finals. From his time at Delhi, Riise will know that Gadze is a powerful man to shake off the ball and will not be taking this duel lightly.
Thoi Singh vs Nallapan Mohanraj: Chennaiyin have a sturdy defence and a giant of a keeper in Jamaican Duwayne Kerr but as Atletico found out to their delight, the left side is there for the taking. Nallapan Mohanraj was utterly dominated by Sameehg Doutie and a returning Thoi presents a different challenge.
Thoi, coming back from injury, should start ahead of Baljit Sahni and will bring pace, tenacity and energy to the right wing. With Succi to aim for in the centre, Mohanraj will have to make sure the Manipuri's crosses don't reach the Italian.
Squads
Chennaiyin FC: Karanjit Singh, Pawan Kumar, Duwayne Kerr, Bernard Mendy, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Nallappan Mohanraj, Eli Sabia, Eder Monterio, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Abhishek Das, John Arne Riise, Baljit Sahni, Hans Mulder, Manuele Blasi, Thoi Singh, Raphael Augusto, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Dhanpal Ganesh, Davide Succi, Maurizio Peluso, Bedashwor Singh, Uttam Rai, Jeje Lalpekhlua
Delhi Dynamos FC: Antonio Doblas Santana, Sanjiban Ghosh, Soram Poirei, Ruben Gonzalez Rocha, David Addy, Ibrahima Niasse, Anas Edathodika, Chinglesana Konsham Singh, Lalchhawnkima, Lalruatthara, Rupert Nongrum, Souvik Chakraborty, Florent Malouda, Bruno Augusto Pelissari de Lima, Marcos Tebar, Emerson Gomes de Moura, Denson Devadas, Milan Singh, Malsawmzuala, Richard Gadze, Badara Badji, Arjun Tudu, Marcelo Leite Pereira, Kean Lewis, Amoes Do
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