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O‘Nus’ on Laszlo and CFC boys to deliver
A depleted Chennaiyin FC (CFC), sans Enes Sipovic and Esmael ‘Isma’ Goncalves, will come up against the might of NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) in the Indian Super League (ISL) Season 7 at the Tilak Maidan in Goa on Sunday.
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Centre-back Sipovic and frontman Isma, who suffered injuries in Chennaiyin’s previous fixture versus Mumbai City FC (MCFC), won’t be involved against NorthEast, which has been a tough nut to crack. Unbeaten NEUFC has nine points from five games as opposed to Csaba Laszlo-coached CFC that has four points from as many outings.
“We initially thought that Isma’s injury is serious, but it is not so. According to our medical team, he can be back on the pitch in 14 days. Sipovic will take about seven days to recover,” said Laszlo during a virtual press meet. The absence of the duo will be a blow for Chennaiyin as Sipovic and Isma have made a combined seven starts in the league.
However, CFC will be boosted by the return of influential midfielder Anirudh Thapa. The 22-year-old was forced off the field against Bengaluru FC (BFC) with an injury and sat out the Mumbai City game.
“For the match against MCFC, Thapa was more or less ready. But, we didn’t want to rush him back. Thapa has been training with the team and looks good.” NorthEast has been effective at both ends of the pitch under Gerard Nus. NEUFC has kept two clean sheets while breaching opposition defences eight times. Chennaiyin boss Laszlo stressed that the players would have to be ready to put in a shift.
“NorthEast has made a very good start to the season and is a stable team. Its offensive players have done well. It has been solid at the back too. We must be prepared. We have our own style and strengths that we want to use,” added the Romanian-Hungarian. Unlike its opening four games that began at 7:30pm IST, CFC will fight it out against NEUFC in a fixture which will kick off at 5pm IST.
Asked if the heat and humidity will take a toll on his boys, the gaffer said: “On one side, it is better to play in the evening because it is not so hot. On the other side, we usually train in the afternoon. So, I don’t think that it will affect us much. We will accept what is ahead of us and make no complaints.”
With the cards stacked against it, CFC would hope to put a full stop to the barren run – winless in three matches – and get its campaign back on track.
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