I-League 2019-20: East Bengal Host Gokulam Kerala FC as Both Look to Keep Pace in Title Race

Kalyani: East Bengal host Gokulam Kerala FC at the Kalyani Stadium on Wednesday in what is their third home match of the I-League season 2019-20. Both East Bengal and Gokulam are looking to keep pace with the title race.

The match is scheduled to be played on January 15, 2020 on Wednesday at the Kalyani Stadium and will be broadcast Live on DSport and streamed Live on FanCode app from 5:00PM IST.

East Bengal, who suffered their first loss of the ongoing I-League against Churchill Brothers FC Goa in their previous game, will be looking to get back to the winning ways. The Red and Golds are placed fifth in the table with eight points from five games and a win against Gokulam Kerala can assure them of the top three places at the end of the eighth round of matches.

East Bengal did a double on Gokulam Kerala with 3-1 and 2-1 wins at home and away respectively in the last season, which should be a major boost for the home side going into Wednesday's match.

Speaking before the match, Alejandro Menendez, head coach of East Bengal, said, "We need to very strong in defence and be much focused. In attack, we will try to be combinative to create as many chances and hopefully convert them. We need to perform in a good way to play this game that is surely going to be tough considering Gokulam will have a similar outlook."

Gokulam Kerala FC has had a rough patch in the last few matches and the results haven't really gone their way. In spite of team captain and playmaker, Marcus Joseph being in prime form, the team has failed to put together a string of good results.

In addition, the Kerala outfit might be at a disadvantage with the suspension of defenders Haroon Amiri and Mohamed Irshad. The team will also be concerned over a recovering goalkeeper Baskaran, who had to be taken off due to a head-on collision during the match against Chennai City FC.

Fernando Andres Santiago Varela, head coach of Gokulam Kerala FC said, "East Bengal are always a strong opponent, with very good foreign and Indian players. We will do our best to win away from home."

He also commented on the events in the last match and said, "Irshad and Amiri are experienced players but we will replace them with two players who are our assets for the future and they will do a good job.

"With regard to the 'bad' luck, I think we are the team that most create scoring chances in the championship and we are not being effective enough. We must improve in this aspect and hopefully be as fast as possible."