AIFF Media Team
COIMBATORE: Chennai City are all set for a Southern region showdown when they take on Gokulam Kerala at the JLN Stadium on Friday (January 20, 2018).
After two goalless stalemates, Chennai City will be looking to get back to winning ways against a side languishing at the bottom of the table. Gokulam Kerala has struggled to make a mark on the Hero I-League table so far but will be hoping for a new beginning in Coimbatore.
V Soundararajan’s young side caught the eye when they bettered Mohun Bagan in a feisty affair in Kolkata. Jean Micheal Joachim and Veniamin Shumeiko starred in that match but the head coach is planning for tactical changes against Gokulam Kerala.
“Tomorrow’s match is very important for us. We don’t want to lose the match. We don’t want to draw the match. We want to win,” stated Soundararajan.
“Tactically, I will be changing the team. We played extremely well in all the matches, the results just did not happen for us.”
Bino George and his team have been unfortunate with injuries. The foreign players, in particular, have missed regular minutes due to persistent injury troubles. Just like his counterpart, George will also be looking to alter his strategy against Chennai City.
“Gokulam Kerala will have a different plan for tomorrow. In all the games, we played really well but conceded sneaky goals,” bemoaned Bino George. “We are a new team and the squad is very young.”
Chennai City skipper Soosairaj has been in supreme form in the centre of midfield and will be the key to unlock the opposition defence consisting of tough tacklers Emmanuel Chigozie and Daniel Addo.
The home side has also had the advantage of being able to field their foreign players regularly, as George points out,”The team with good foreigners are doing well. Our foreign players got injured.”
Schumeiko has solidified the Chennai defence and Gokulam’s new signing Mahmood Al-Ajmi will have a tough task on his hand to break open the sturdy backline. French striker Jean Micheal Joachim, another one of Chennai’s in-form foreign player, is their top scorer with five goals to his name so far.
The kick-off is at 05:30 PM and the game will be telecast live on Star Sports 2/2 HD and will be available for streaming on Hotstar and Jio TV.
