ISL 2021-22, OFC vs SCEB Preview: SC East Bengal eye three points against in-form Odisha FC

Odisha
FC,
who
won
their
first
match
3-1
against
Bengaluru
FC
courtesy
Javi
Hernandez’s
brace,
will
hope
to
continue
their
winning
run
while
SC
East
Bengal
will
focus
on
bouncing
back
after
a
defeat
to
arch-rivals
ATK
Mohun
Bagan.

“Our
only
intention
is
to
win
and
grab
the
three
points,”
SCEB
coach
Jose
Manuel
Diaz
said
at
the
pre-match
press
conference.

The
Kolkata
Derby
can
be
an
exhausting
experience
for
the
players
both
physically
and
mentally
and
the
SCEB
boss
rued
the
lack
of
recovery
time.

Results
|

Fixtures

“We
have
to
make
changes
to
the
team
that
played
against
ATK
Mohun
Bagan
because
the
starters
of
that
match
only
had
one
day
to
recover,”
he
said.

Skipper
Arindam
Bhattacharya
is
set
to
miss
the
game
against
Odisha
FC
after
suffering
an
injury
during
the
ATKMB
match.
Suvam
Sen,
who
impressed
after
coming
off
the
bench,
will
be
handed
a
start,
Diaz
confirmed
on
Monday
(November
29).

The
former
Real
Madrid
Castilla
coach
did
not
rule
out
starting
defender
Adil
Khan
against
Odisha
FC.

“Our
only
goal
while
choosing
the
team
is
to
pick
the
best
eleven
who
will
win
the
match
for
SC
East
Bengal.
Everyone
in
the
squad
will
get
opportunity
going
forward,”
Diaz
said.

Diaz
defended
his
strikers
and
said
they
did
not
get
as
many
chances
as
they
would’ve
liked.

“Our
strikers
didn’t
get
enough
opportunities
in
the
previous
match
because
the
team
didn’t
play
well
enough
to
create
the
opportunities,”
he
said.

Diaz,
when
asked
about
the
strategy
SCEB
will
look
to
implement,
was
quite
straight-forward.

“We
are
concentrating
on
repeating
the
good
things
we
did
in
the
first
match
and
avoiding
the
mistakes
we
committed
in
the
last
match,”
he
concluded.

Odisha
FC,
who
got
off
to
a
winning
start,
want
to
take
it
one
game
at
a
time
as
the
head
coach
Kiko
Ramirez
calls
on
his
team
to
give
their
best.

“The
strategy
is
to
keep
being
competitive.
At
the
end,
we
cannot
live
in
the
last
game,
that
was
good.
We
need
to
live
in
the
present
and
think
for
the
future.
Our
thought
is
to
compete
in
the
best
way
possible
next
match,”
Ramirez
said
during
the
press
conference.

When
asked
about
Javi
Hernandez’s
form
in
the
previous
game,
the
Spanish
coach
explained,
“Javi,
off-course,
has
been
in
a
good
shape
and
he
scored
two
goals.
But,
without
his
teammates,
he
will
not
be
able
to
perform
that
well.

“We
need
to
think
that
football
is
all
about
teamwork.
Javi
is
okay
but
without
rest
of
the
teammates
he
cannot
achieve
these
goals.”

Odisha
FC
vs
SC
East
Bengal
Match
Details

Match
Venue:
Tilak
Maidan
in
Vasco
da
Gama,
Goa

Match
Date:
Tuesday,
November
30

Kick
Off
Time:
7:30
PM
IST

Live
Telecast:
Star
Sports
Network
–
Star
Sport
2
and
Star
Sports
2HD

Live
Streaming:
Disney+HotStar
VIP