ISL: Leaders Bengaluru aim to maintain winning streak against Pune (Preview)

Leaders Bengaluru FC who are on a five-match winning trot will aim to carry on the momentum when they face FC Pune City at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Friday.

Pune, on the other hand have four wins in their last five fixtures and are placed second, five points behind Bengaluru, having played the same number of games.

The match will also see an attacking brand of football with both teams scoring a combined 57 goals between themselves.

But Bengaluru's dominance has been such that even a loss would not see them lose their first place in the table.

Pune's Marcelinho, who has scored eight goals to Bengaluru skipper Sunil Chhetri's nine, will also look to edge past the Indian skipper in a mini battle within the big fight.

"Tomorrow is also an opportunity for us to aim for the first place. We know what we can do and what we need to do, and maybe we can also confirm our position in the top four with a win here," Pune's assistant coach Vladica Grujic said.

"I don't even remember when Bengaluru last lost a match. At this moment they are at the peak of their energy and confidence. It is very important that we remember we were the better team in the previous match against them until we went down to 10 men," he added.

Their last game ended 3-1 in Bengaluru's favour. They will look to do the same here and head coach Albert Roca said: "The most important thing for us now is to be there - to keep the momentum going and prove that we are rising and hoping to be better. It's not easy mentally when you know you're there but that's the time other teams can punish you because they want to be in your situation."

--IANS

sam/bg