By I-League Media

KOLKATA: The Red and Golds host Ashley Westwood’s men on Saturday in the Hero I-League encounter, in what promises to be a thriller.

The statistics are skewed against the Steelmen who have only won a solitary encounter in their four matches against the Kolkata side, with East Bengal undefeated at home.

The solitary victory though came the last time they met, when Sean Rooney, Sunil Chhetri and Robin Singh were on the scoresheet as they shut down Kingfisher East Bengal at the Kanteerava Stadium.

With a change in guard, this will be Biswajit Bhattacharya’s first punt at the JSW owned side.

Bengaluru FC will have a point to prove after their three-match winning run came to an unceremonious halt, away to Mumbai FC.

With Robin Singh out injured, the likes of Alwyn George, Udanta Singh and Sunil Chhetri have drawn a blank, something which is giving Westwood a headache.

It has been CK Vineeth and striker, Kim Seong Yong who have been among the goals and have been leading the side from the front.

While John Johnson and Curtis Osano make a fearsome two in the centre of defense, Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Sankar Sampangiraj will be in charge of marshaling the midfield after Joshua Walker was released.

Biswajit Bhattacharya meanwhile was not a happy man in spite of East Bengal’s 1-0 win against DSK Shivajians earlier in the week.

The team spurned quality chances galore but Bhattacharya reasoned that the team hardly had time to recover following the Derby encounter.

With the fourth foreigner, Bernard Mendy still unavailable, East Bengal will field Arnab Mondal and Bello Rasaq in defense while Ranti Martins and Do Dong Hyun will be tasked with leading the line.

With Bengaluru FC already having defeated East Bengal, it is time for them to break the Bengal jinx as they have failed the beat the Red and Golds in Kolkata since their inception.