I-League Media

SILIGURI: When two teams are coming off a dream run being snapped in one way or the other, the stomach to roar back to winning ways is what drives them. So when East Bengal and Shillong Lajong meet at the Kanchenjunga Stadium here for a ninth round I-League encounter, a high-octane clash will surely be on the cards.

East Bengal’s six-game winning run was halted by Mohun Bagan in the much-anticipated Kolkata Derby at the same venue last week while DSK Shivajians put a spanner in Lajong’s works of a four-game unconquered streak.

East Bengal are top of the heap with 20 points from eight matches while Lajong are in the fourth position with 12 points from eight outings.

“We are working on areas where we need to improve on defensively and in the attack. We need to approach every match with unity and teamwork. The aim should be to do well in the remaining matches,” Lajong head coach Thangboi Singto said pre-match here.

“East Bengal are a strong and balanced team. We need to work more on what we need to do against them and how best we can get good results. We need to keep playing as per our strengths and all players need to contribute to the team.”

The highlight for Lajong has been the superb form of Cameroonian striker Dipanda Dicka, who is now the leading the goal scorer chart with seven goals from eight matches.

He scored all of these goals at home and Lajong head coach Singto will hope Dicka can continue netting goals for the team in the next two away games as well.

For Trevor Morgan’s East Bengal, Willis Plaza and Wedson Anselme have been on a song and they would hope the Bagan game was an aberration.

Goalkeeper TP Rehenesh’s sublime form in the last game should be a major shot in the arm for the hosts. This will be East Bengal’s second successive match at Siliguri before they get back to their home for this season at Barasat.

The match is scheduled at 04:30 PM and it’ll be streamed live on i-league.org