ISL 2015: NorthEast United vs FC Goa - Preview, Live Stream & Channel Info, Team News, Prediction Betting Odds

NorthEast United host FC Goa in the ISL

The quest for NorthEast United’s first three points has now reached their home ground as they host FC Goa in their first match in Guwahati today. After their heartbreaking loss against FC Pune City by a solitary own goal, NEUFC would really prefer starting their home matches with a win.

Goa, on the other hand, were annihilated 0-4 at home in their last match against Chennaiyin FC and hence coach Zico has a lot of things to set straight in the defence before they take on NEUFC. And the fact that the game will be played in Guwahati, where the crowd is expected to be really loud in support of their home team, conditions won’t be that easy for the visiting team.

Kick Off Time and Telecast

Live Telecast: StarSports 2, StarSports HD2, Star Gold (Hindi)

Live Stream: starsports.com

Date and Time: Monday, 15th October 2015 – 1900 IST

Venue: Indira Gandhi Stadium, Sarusajai, Guwahati

Live Updates on Sportskeeda

Team News

No Simeo, No Lucio

Marquee players of both the teams will be unavailable for the match. The wait for Simao Sabrosa’s ISL debut grows longer as the Portuguese is yet to recover while FC Goa’s Lucio will miss the game against NorthEast due to a muscle injury sustained in the team’s last appearance.

The home team is plagued with injuries, and the list seems to be growing longer and longer. Apart from the marquee player, defender Miguel Garcia who missed the last match has now flown back to Portugal for better treatment of his hamstring injury and if sources are to be believed, he will not be available for the coming three weeks.

Zohmingliana Ralte, Kondwani Mtonga and Seityasen Singh all remain sidelined, while Dempo forward Holicharan Narzary, who was diagnosed with appendicitis has been recovering well and practising with the team, but will not make the cut for today’s match.

Farias also acknowledged the injury issue in his pre-conference address and expressed a lot of faith and confidence on his young Indian squad. ‘We have good precision, good timing and good attitude from the players. But the problem is injuries. We have a lot of international players injured.’

‘We have to believe in the Indian players and other players which we have. We have to play with accuracy and focus and have to believe in ourselves’, the coach further said.

The Venezuelan coach will look to utilize his defensive fortress which played really well against FC Pune City, but at the same time needs to focus on the goal scoring and rightly so as he said, ‘It is very important to finish with a goal and finish with a win. Tomorrow it is important to win.’

Goa, on the other hand, had a disastrous last match, which according to Zico has been the worst so far in his career. He said, ‘It was a loss that I was very sad with, because in my 16 years of career, I have never lost a match 4-0’.

It remained the only team in the league so far to go in with an unchanged squad in two back to back matches. But this time around, things will be a little different with Lucio not being available for the team.

Other than this there is no other active injury for the team however, a lot of tactical changes are expected off the Brazilian coach who indicated in the pre-match press conference about the lapses in his last match as he said, ‘There was a plan to specially mark Elano and Mendoza, but unfortunately in the due course of the match it did not work out as we expected it to be. So it can happen in football you see, sometimes you have the best plans and players, but at the time of the game things don’t work out. And also the other team can batter the game.’

Team Formation and Line Up

NorthEast United FC (4-4-2)

Gennaro Bracigliano, Reagan Singh, Marlangki Suting, Cedric Hengbart, Yumnam Raju, Sanju Pradhan, Siam Hanghal, Diomansy Kamara, Silas, Francis Dadzie, Nicolas Velez

FC Goa (4-3-3)

Elinton Andrade, Keenan Almeida, Gregory Arnolin, Luciano Sabrosa, Debabrata Roy, Denson Devadas, Leo Moura, Jofre, Romeo Fernandes, Reinaldo, Mandar Rao Desai

Caption

Key Battles

Nicolas Veles vs Gregory Arnolin & Brazilian Co.

Velez has been the player to look out for in the NorthEast United FC. In the absence of the marquee player, this Argentine has casted havoc in the opposition by smoothness and pace in his attack. He has been the lone scorer for NEUFC this season and even in their last match against FC Pune City, came dangerously close to scoring multiple times. He with the support of Sanju Pradhan and Hanghal leads the attack for the home team.

However, the Argentine faces a defensive wall comprising his arch rivals, Brazilians. But in the absence of Lucio, the Goa’s defence would be lead by Gregory Arnolin, who has been rock solid at the back for his team. With his physique, he looks like someone who can mark and contain the pace of Velez very well.

Reinaldo vs Sian Hanghal

Another interesting battle will go on between Brazilian Reinaldo and NEUFC’s holding midfielder Sian Hanghal. The Brazilian caught the attention of many when he scored in their team’s first match against Delhi when he crashed a powerful strike to the far corner of the net from the top of the box just before the stroke of the half-time break. The forward has been creating a lot of trouble for opposition defences ever since and will be a player to look out for.

He will however, be under close watch by NEUFC’s Hanghal who has been very clinical in the field. He has stolen the ball from the opposition a lot many times and has also created a number for chances for the team.

Prediction

NorthEast United 1-1 FC Goa