Coimbatore: Defending champions Chennai City FC return to their home ground in Coimbatore as they host struggling Neroca FC at the Nehru Stadium in the next encounter of I-League 2019-20 on Saturday, December 21, 2019.
Chennai are currently placed seventh in the league table with four points from three matches (one win, one tie, and one loss). Neroca FC, on the other hand, have garnered only three points with a solitary win and two losses, and are placed just below Chennai on the table.
Chennai City FC, who haven't quite shown the spark of the previous season, are in for a major challenge of how to convert possession into goals. Despite dominating possession against Aizawl FC, Chennai couldn't manage to find the back of the net and had to settle with a point that came through a Roberto Eslava penalty. They also missed the services of Pedro Manzi in the last match, who was out due to injury, and are trying to find the perfect combination to repeat last season's magic.
Speaking ahead of the home match, Chennai City FC head coach Akbar Nawas said, "We want to win every game in the league. We never have the championship on our mind. It is better that we have that approach."
He also added, "We won the league last year by the sheer grit and the way we played. It is for the other teams to follow suit. But we can't expect the same thing to happen every time. We would have preferred having more continuity, but we are working with a new group and trying to ensure that we do our best."
Neroca FC have also had a tough run since the beginning of the season. They lost to Gokulam Kerala FC and then endured a 1-4 thrashing against East Bengal. Their only win has come against Aizawl FC by a 1-0 margin where the defence was on fire as captain Marvin Devon Phillip emerged Hero of the Match for his stellar performance between the sticks.
Neroca FC captain Phillip commented on the mood in the camp, saying, "The mood in the camp is great. Yes, we had a small break but during this time we have been working hard to go all out to get a positive result going into this game."
He further said about their opponents, "We are aware that Chennai were the champions last season, and they are a good team. They may have not had a good start we all know this that they aren't to be taken for granted knowing that they are off to an indifferent start."
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