AIFF Media Team
NEW DELHI: With a new year comes new beginnings. Teams will hope the strength of mind will stick and their resolutions will come true. I League 2024-25 has proven to be as unpredictable as ever, and with the first match week approaching, resolutions may well come early — at the top of the table at least.
Gokulam hope for a New Year kicker
Gokulam Kerala will probably be glad to be rid of 2024, a year when they perhaps suffered too many losses for their liking at times. Going into their fixture against Delhi FC on Wednesday, January 8, at 14:00, the Kozhikode outfit haven’t won a game in five, with four draws sandwiching the home loss to Churchill Brothers. There have been problems aplenty for them at both sides of the pitch. It took them five games to register their first clean sheet, and when they did so, against Shillong Lajong, they failed to score up front. A similar scoreline ensued in their final game of the year, against Rajasthan United no less, a team that has the ignominy of conceding the most goals this season. The second on that list are Gokulam’s hosts Delhi FC, who are riding a mini high, having won two of their last three. One point separates them on the table and come the end of tomorrow, Gokulam could either kickstart a new year with new ambitions or Delhi could continue their surge up the standings.
Table toppers hope to extend the gap
Churchill Brothers’ season so far has gone to a drawn up plan. Having taken four straight wins, the Goan side sit pretty at the top of the table, and if they can shrug off the challenge of Namdhari FC on Wednesday, January 8, at 15:30, they will extend their lead to five points for a minimum of 48 hours. It will help of course that their closest rivals Dempo and Inter Kashi are scheduled to play each other, and guaranteed to lose points one way or another. Not that Churchill will be too focussed on any of that. Namdhari are a tough team to crack. After a mini slump early in the season, they are unbeaten in two and will always lock up physically when playing away.
The weight at the bottom of the table
It is shaping into one of the stranger seasons of the league — almost akin to an astronomical occurrence that comes every half a decade. While the top of the table is filled with regular contenders, the bottom has some regulars too. A crucial standout though is Sreenidi Deccan, a team who have arguably been the most consistent in the league over the past few years, despite not winning the title yet. This time around they’ve seemed to have lost their nerve early on. They sit second from last on the table with a negative goal difference and three straight losses. On Thursday, January 9, at 19:00, they play Aizawl FC who sit right above them, purely on goal difference. This may not have been the ranking battle Sreenidi expected but this is the one they have to play for this season, at least for now.
A second foot-of-the-table encounter pits Sporting Club Bengaluru against Rajasthan United FC in the latter’s first-ever home match in Jaipur on Thursday, January 9, at 15:30. For both clubs, a leaky defence has been a source of concern. That said, both kept their first clean sheets of the season to end 2024, and will hope to follow up.
Consolation, consolidation & contest
Dempo SC are probably still hurting. Losing a derby is never good but losing one to close out a memorable year and missing a chance to go top of the table is worse still. They will have a chance to rectify that feeling soon enough on Friday, January 10, at 15:30, when they go up against Inter Kashi, who are jostling for position just above them on the table. Inter Kashi lost for the first time this season against Churchill, and then followed up by walloping Sreenidi Deccan 3-1. This encounter is in essence almost a chance to either drop out or stake ambitions in the title race early on. A draw won’t do much good for either, allowing Churchill Brothers to potentially open up a gap at the top.
A fourth contender are perennial dark horses Real Kashmir FC who will travel to the east to play Shillong Lajong FC on Friday, January 10, at 19:00. The Snow Leopards are four points off the top and have won just one in five, a series that has somewhat jeopardised a chance to win their maiden title. A win, and some other favourable results in this round will put them closer to the top, but it all rests on how they travel — which traditionally they haven’t done too well.
