The I-League winds down to it's penultimate weekend as East Bengal seek to stay in the race for atleast a day further, as they take on Sporting Goa...
Toiling through another maze of managerial upheaval, East Bengal traverse up to the Barasat stadium to face a Sporting Clube de Goa side in a must win tie on Friday evening. Even though it is a clash between the third and the fourth team in the league table, the two outfits will have very different targets in their minds when they take the field. 
For the Red and Golds, the situation is relatively straightforward. They have to win the game to stand a mathematical chance of securing their maiden I-League title, after which they will have to rely on other results heading their way. Life at the club has been turned upside down after the thrashing at the hands of fellow title rivals, and now favourites Bengaluru FC, as coach Biswajit Bhattacharya put in his resignation.  
The managerial reign has been handed over to their fan favourite coach Trevor Morgan but the Briton will not be on the East Bengal bench before the Federation Cup. For the time being, Sanjay Majhi has been appointed the interim head coach of the side and the former striker of the club will be seen taking the calls on the touchline with inputs from Debjit Ghosh and Sammy Omollo.
The matchday squad for the Kolkata-based team is littered with talent and it will be interesting to see the line-up that the new management proceeds with. Do-Dong Hyun is in a golden run of form and should have his place sealed in the starting eleven, alongside Ranti Martins.
Mehtab Hossain, who was benched in the last match against Bengaluru FC in the last match, is expected to return to the midfield, but the club has received a jolt as Bernard Mendy has been ruled out of the game with a muscle tear. Cavin Lobo, Robert Lalthlamuana and Soumik Dey are also nursing minor injuries but may feature in the match-day squad. Arnab Mondal is suspended for the game and veteran Deepak Mandal can earn a rare start as a central defender.
"This Sporting Goa team is not the same whom we faced in the first leg. We have to be cautious but we've no other option but to go all-out for a win," Majhi told in the pre-match press conference. "We still have a slim chance of winning it. Although it depends on other results, still we can only hope for the best," he fiurther added.
Sporting Goa, bouncing into this match on the back of buoyant and season refreshing 5-2 win over Shillong Lajong, have nearly secured their top division status for another season but will head into this game to further solidify their poisition. Mateus Costa will have heaved a sigh of relief with his team's overdue win and is guaranteed to retain the majority of starters against the Red and Golds. 
Star striker Odafa Okolie has travelled with the team and may finally return to action as a late substitute in the game. Young Indian striker Sumeet Passi scored a brilliant double in his first start of the season and will keep his place in the starting line-up. Victorino Fernandes, who has proved out to be a nemesis of the Red and Golds in the last couple of seasons, will be thrown into the mix in the second half.
A number of young players have performed well for Mateus Costa's side and it will be interesting to see who among Nicholas Fernandes and Subhasish Bose start as the U-22 player. 
The Goan side enjoy a terrible record against the Kolkata giants in the country's top-tier football league. They have beaten East Bengal only once in the 15 encounters between the two clubs in I-League and the only win came way back in January 2008 in a home game. However their impressive record in the cup fixtures mean that East Bengal have won only two games out of the last ten against them. 
With the home side licking their wounds heading into the penultimate game-week, knowing full well that nothing less than three points will guarantee they take the fight to Bengaluru FC atlleast until sunday, expect a fire-cracker of a game. Kick-off is at 7.05 PM IST.