East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan, however tried to play down his team's loss at the hands of United, even as the two teams gear up to lock horns once again in a space of nine days.
"The two matches are different for they were played in different tournaments, so the two cannot be compared. But tomorrow's match is crucial as it is important for us to win and remain in the run for the title," Morgan said.
East Bengal were held to a 1-1 draw in the previous round by a determined Air India, while United picked up an away win beating United Sikkim FC 1-0.
Referring to the successive draws by the current league leaders -- Churchill Brothers -- which has helped his team close in on the formers, Morgan said, "We do not like to look at what the others are doing. The draws (by Churchill) have got us back real close to them but we have to win to make full use of the advantage."
Meanwhile, United coach Eelco Schattorie said "just because we won the Shield final does not mean we have the advantage".
"We played better on that day and won. We have to repeat the good showing once again to repeat the success," the Dutchman said.
"They have good players and we do not have specific plan to mark anyone in particular. We will play to our plan and try to make the most of it," he insisted.
United are placed four in the table with 34 points from 21 matches and Schattorie said that the team has no fitness issues apart from a niggling injury to its defender Gouramangi Singh.