Jamshedpur next up for Chennaiyin FC

“When you play against Jamshedpur FC, you have to be ready for a battle. All my players know exactly the kind of game we will be expecting on Thursday night,” CFC manager John Gregory said.

The visitor failed to come up trumps in its previous game courtesy of a last-gasp equalizer from Kerala Blasters’ CK Vineeth. In spite of sharing the spoils, the ISL Season 2 champion remains on top of the league standings with 13 points in its kitty. 

CFC has picked up six points on the road thus far, with wins against Bengaluru FC and FC Pune City. The side can also take solace from the fact that it has conceded fewer goals away from home in comparison to its showing at the Nehru Stadium here. 

The MS Dhoni co-owned outfit has often relied on snatching late goals this season, seven of them coming past the 80-minute mark. It would look to sneak one early to control the proceedings from the word go. 

With Brazilian Raphael Augusto playing in the heart of the midfield, last match’s goal-scorer Rene Mihelic and Jaime Gavilan have struggled to get much-needed game time. With Gregory persisting with three foreign defenders in the back line, chances of them making into the starting line-up look bleak. 

Dhanpal Ganesh will be back in the scheme of things after serving his one match suspension as a result of picking up four yellow cards. Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua has had a sluggish start to the initial stages of ISL 4, his three goals coming only in the games against ATK and I-League champion BFC. 

Home side Jamshedpur FC is on a decent run of form, bagging six valuable points in its previous three encounters. Solidity in the defence has been one area JFC’s manager Steve Coppell has been emphasising on since his first tenure with the Blasters in the previous edition. 

The new entrant has been rock solid at the back, making it a defensive powerhouse. It has kept five clean sheets in its first six games of the campaign. Commenting on it, the Briton said, “It’ll be a tough game. Jamshedpur doesn’t concede many goals. Its defence being tight will make it a challenge for us.” Shot stopper Subrata Paul looks settled to clinch the ‘Golden Glove’ at the end, having conceded a solitary goal during his stay of 540 minutes between the posts.