A narrow 1-0 win over Mumbai City FC away from home on Friday confirmed Chennaiyin FC’s place in the playoffs of the 2019/20 season of the Indian Super League. With Bengaluru FC playing a 2-2 draw against ATK on Sunday, Owen Coyle’s men have a great chance of securing the third spot in the league table when they face NorthEast United in their final league stage game on Tuesday.
NorthEast United vs Chennaiyin FC:
Before Owen Coyle took over Chennaiyin FC, the team had won just one of their opening six league outings. Since his arrival, the team haven’t only won games at will, but have also scored goals for fun. He did have a tough start to his new life, losing to FC Goa and Odisha FC, but his team has since won six of their last seven games while drawing one.
Since January 10, Chennai have scored 19 goals in six games and have conceded just six. What was thought to be their utter frailty earlier this season has now become one of their major strengths.
Read | In Chennaiyin FC, Owen Coyle has taken a leap in the dark
Northeast United, on the other hand, have lost as many as eight games this season, with their last win dating way back on November 6 against Hyderabad FC. As far as their head to head count goes, NorthEast do edge forward, having won three of their last five meetings, but all that will be put to rest once the teams step onto the field on Tuesday.
Watch out for:
Nerijus Valskis: 13 goals in 17 league pretty much portrays why Chennai are on a scoring spree of late. Before the Mumbai game, Valskis had scored as many as eight goals in just six games, and with the race of winning the golden boot heating up, expect the 32-year-old Lithuanian to go all out on Tuesday against a NorthEast defence which has shipped 10 goals in their last three games.
Can Chelsea sink a Bayern ship?
Chelsea, after losing 2-0 to Manchester United, got back to winning ways on Saturday with goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso helping them to a 2-0 win over Jose Moutinho’s Tottenham Hotspur. Up next for them lies a tough test against Bayern Munich, who have scored 15 goals in their last five Bundesliga games, including a 5-0 win over Schalke.
Unlike Bayern, Chelsea have endured a rather unstable run in the league, having won just one of their last five games while losing twice. Despite that poor run of form though, they have scored at least two goals on four out of five occasions. Thus, expect them to find the net at least once.
Watch out for:
Robert Lewandowski: An absolute goal machine, Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has enjoyed a rich run of form, having scored 11 goals and two assists in his last 10 games in all competitions, including a recent brace against Paderborn. The Poland international has, in fact, been equally vicious in the Champions League and his return of 10 goals in just five games remains a worry for Frank Lampard and his defence, which has shipped eight goals in their last five league games.
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Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @ChennaiyinFC
