We are now past the halfway mark in the round of 16 in the Indian Super Cup. There are currently three ISL sides that have progressed and only a single I-League side have made it through. Surprisingly, both of the league’s champions, Chennaiyin and Minerva, have fallen at the first hurdle. Anyway, onto the preview of today’s game between ISL’s Pune City and I-League outfit Shillong Lajong. Instead of me making a joke about the name of the I-League side, I’ll be mature and move straight onto the stats.
The Stats…
Starting with the home side, Pune managed to sneak a playoff position in this seasons ISL. Unfortunately, they lost over two legs to Bengaluru and missed out on the final. Pune managed to get into the playoffs mainly because of their goalscoring record, with them managing thirty goals over the eighteen-game season. Pune’s defensive record also helped their top-four finish as they only conceded twenty-one goals over the course of the season. Pune are currently on form, with them winning two, drawing two and losing one of their previous five. Will they be the forth ISL team to progress to the quarter-finals?
Now onto the visitors, Shillong managed to finish 6th in the I-League this season, just making the automatic qualification places for this tournament. That 6th place finish may seem good, however, looking at their goalscoring record, it does make you wonder how they got there as they only scored seventeen goals over eighteen games. Unfortunately, they can’t celebrate about their defensive record as well as they conceded twenty-five goals, more than relegated side Indian Arrows. Looking at their form, it really isn’t that impressive as they have won one, drew two and lost two in their previous five. Will they cause an upset and send Pune flying out the competition?
The Game Itself…
I have a feeling this game will be a one-sided affair with Pune controlling the game across every minute. However, I can’t claim to be an I-League expert so Shillong could surprise me and cause an upset. However, I don’t know how Shillong play their football so I can’t comment on how they will impact the game.
Pune are surprisingly good at playing both attacking and defensive football, which is rare for an ISL side as they either like to attack or like to defend. Pune will quite comfortably adapt to whatever Shillong throw at them and I can see Pune winning quite easily.
Key Player…
Once again, I have to mention that I am not an I-League expert by any means and that’s why I dedicate some of my time to quickly research into each team. My quick research left me with two names that Pune will have to look out for. These two are both forwards for Shillong, one being Koffi and the other being Jagne, they were Shillong’s top two goalscorers over the past season so they know how to find the net.
However, I do know about Pune as I have had the pleasure of watching them for the past few months. Pune have some fantastic players across all positions, however, two names really stick out to me. One of them being Alfaro who managed to find the net nine times last season and is a great forward, who can bully defences and score quite easily. However, my Key Player is Pune’s star man and playmaker Marcelinho. Delhi fans were gutted when he left before the start of the season and we can see why, he managed eight goals and seven assists, which is just brilliant.
Finally…
With all this being said, I will simply leave you with this. Obviously, I am no I-League expert so some of the things I have said in this piece may be wrong, forgive me, but I am a stats guy and their stats just aren’t convincing. I am going to go with an easy 2-0 Pune with Alfaro getting both, thanks to Marcelinho’s fantastic build-up play.
