I-League: East Bengal aim for 2nd win against Churchill (Preview)

East Bengal will aim to win their second game of the I-League football season when they host Churchill Brothers at the Vidyasagar Krirangan (Barasat Stadium) in a round four encounter on Saturday.

Having picked up their very first victory of the season last week against Shillong Lajong and that too by an overwhelming 5-1 scoreline, the red and golds will be hoping for all three points against a side yet to open their points tally.

A win will take them to the third position on the table. However, they will be cautious not to replicate city rivals Mohun Bagan who dropped points, co-incidentally against Lajong the previous day at home.

After recording just one point from their first two outings, which included an embarrassing Kolkata Derby defeat, Khalid Jamil will have a spring in his step after his players silenced the critics at the very venue last weekend.

The Goans on the other hand play out their second game in Kolkata within a week and between them was sandwiched a quick trip to the home of the defending champions, Aizawl FC who pipped them with a 1-0 result. Yugo Kobayashi scored for the northeastern outfit in the dying moments of the game.

After the sacking of Ukrainian coach Mykola Shevchenko only two games into the season, Alfred Fernandes will hope that the tie against East Bengal does not go haywire like his debut game in-charge midweek.

Churchill Brothers, who are yet to gain a point, are also without a goal this season. Pressure will be on Nigerian striker Eric Nwaimo.

Domestic talents like Israil Gurung, Uttam Rai and Suraj Singh are yet to step up to the plate otherwise the Red Machines will be looking to be rooted at the bottom of the table for a longer period of time.

--IANS

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