After the disappointment of not picking up all three points in the week vs Delhi Dynamos, FC Goa have the chance to redeem themselves tomorrow as they travel to Pune in what is the early game in arguably the most important Super Sunday to date in the ISL. If Goa fail to win at Pune and Jamshedpur defeat Bengaluru later on the same day, Goa’s dreams of success this season will be over. It’s hard to imagine a team who scored fourteen goals in three games earlier in the season not making the playoffs but that’s exactly what is going to happen if Goa drop points and results go against them.
Could We See A Final Day Shootout?
If Goa manage to beat Pune and then see off ATK in the week then it’ll set up a final day shootout against Jamshedpur where the winner will take all, that’s the ideal scenario, but it could all be over well before then. Pune are still not guaranteed a playoff place themselves and if they do succumb to defeat tomorrow then it’ll mean Goa will be five points behind them with a game in hand, so anything really is possible.
Looking at the game itself, Pune are third in the five-game form table with a credible ten points, on the other hand, Goa are third from bottom and sit with two points from five games as they’ve hit a rocky patch at the worst possible time. The only silver lining, if you can call it that, is that surely this dismal run has to end for Goa sooner rather than later and what better way to do it than against a play-off rival?
How Will Coppell Set Up?
The later of the two games has just as much significance resting on it, although, you have to feel, the way Steve Coppell’s Jamshedpur set up for it may well reflect the result from Pune earlier in the day. If Goa win, Coppell will know that if his side do anything but win and Goa beat ATK as well, that when they face each other on the final day, Goa will be in the ascendancy.
Alternatively, if they drop points, Jamshedpur can be out of sight and out of mind before Goa even face ATK, so really Coppell should go for the win regardless of Goa’s result, but you can see him tailoring his game plan to what happens in the earlier game.
Bengaluru are somewhat of a bystander at the moment because they have a five-point cushion over second-placed Pune with two games left. If Pune drop points against Goa, Bengaluru are guaranteed to finish top so it’ll be interesting to see how Albert Roca sets his side up should they be guaranteed to finish top. The side from Bangalore will know that momentum is key going into the play-offs, but an injury to a big player could make all the difference so he’ll have to play it very carefully.
Stat Attack
On average, Pune City’s home games yield 3.4 goals per game, however, their last three games have all had under three goals, making it difficult to know what to expect.
If FC Goa concede this weekend, it’ll be a staggering TWENTY games without a clean sheet.
Jamshedpur have won their last three games at home after failing to win the first four home games of the campaign.
In all competitions, Bengaluru have only lost once away from home in NINE games.
Earlier This Season
FC Goa 0-2 Pune City
If the same outcome happens tomorrow, it could quite possibly be all over for FC Goa. The result came on the back of Goa’s incredible fourteen goals in three games that we touched on earlier and it sent them on a run of three games without a win, the other two coming in games against lowly ATK & NorthEast United. Pune came into the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat at home to Bengaluru so anyone with any sense would’ve backed Goa to win this. Goa couldn’t find the back of the net for love nor money as Pune’s resolute defence stood strong and down the other end, Pune were more clinical which ultimately made all the difference. Two goals in twelve second half minutes from Emiliano Alfaro and Jonatan Lucca meant that Pune’s dogged performance paid off. It’s also one of the reasons why Pune are where they are in the table and also one of the reasons why Goa are where they are.
Bengaluru 0-1 Jamshedpur
In what was the sixth game of Jamshedpur’s season, it was the biggest shock in their short history by a country mile. The two new additions to the ISL lined up against one another in Bangalore and it was the home side which were the favourites, the bookies having them around the 1/2 mark. The ‘Men of Steel’ on the other hand were a whopping 5/1 to come away with the three points and that’s exactly what they did through a last-minute Trindade Goncalves penalty. Bengaluru had 62% of the ball, ten shots on target but for all of their trying, Subrata stood strong in goal and they came away with a very important victory, hell, if they hadn’t of won that, they would be outside the top four.
One More Thing
As promised, I went over all my bets earlier in the week and the house bets are doing ok. Unfortunately, there isn’t one to be had this week because there’s nothing I could say with 100% confidence will happen. Delhi (who face ATK today) are on a good run and are priced handsomely, but, they blow hot and cold, as do ATK. As Steve said in his preview and I touched on in the prediction league, it could easily be 5-4 or something stupid like that or 0-0. Pune are the other stand out one, but the way the league is, I’m not confident enough to put a house on. I’ll tell you what we’ll do, we’ll go for a double to spice things up; all of the teams that play on Sunday to score. So BTTS (Both Teams To Score) in both the games. There are no prices as of yet, but it’s worth a dabble when they do come up.
Until the next time.