By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Shillong Lajong Football Club (SLFC) will take on Sporting Clube De Goa in the third round match of this year’s I-League, to be played at JN Stadium, Polo, on Sunday.
The home team will look to improve their performance against the Goan side that defeated them during their two meetings in the last edition of the I-League.
This match may prove a tougher task for Sporting, as the Reds are in good form after their first two matches, both at home, and the home team can expect to be cheered by thousands of eager fans.
The Shillong side had a dream start to this season by defeating Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan 2-0 and then held Salgaocar to a 1-1 draw.
The visiting team, who finished eighth last season, has not had a great start to this season as they were held to a goalless draw by East Bengal and lost to arch rivals Dempo 0-5.
Another worrying factor for Sporting Clube De Goa is that they will be missing the service of as many as three foreign players, including star defender Keita Babucar, who are out with injury.
With the injuries to the foreign players, Sporting will hope that their six young players who have been elevated to the senior side recently can perform well for the team in Sunday’s game.
For the home team, on the other hand, they have plenty of positives going into the match.
In contrast to Sporting, Lajong are able to field a full-strength side, which is huge relief for coach Desmond Bulpin.
SLFC’s good start to the season can, in part, be put down to Bulpin, who has brought a sense of belief among the players to give their best against the top sides. This factor was clearly missing in the last season, but has yet to be tested in away matches.
With a solid defence line featuring new north Korean signing Minchol Son and the reliable Wailadmi Passah, Lajong will be gunning to create another upset on Sunday.
During the pre-match conference, Sporting coach Soibam Ikendra Singh said that he will be fielding a young side in the match.
“Midfielder Kalu Ogba will be the only foreigner who will be playing against Lajong,” Singh said.
While admitting that it would be a tough challenge to defeat Shillong Lajong at home, he said that his players would go all out to get a win from the match.
“The football fans in Shillong are very educated about the game. I hope they cheer the team who plays the best football on the day,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, Bulpin said that the he is likely to field the same side which played against Salgoacar, but there is a chance that more young players will be picked.
“We need to understand that the future of Indian football lies with young football talent,” Bulpin asserted.
“I know there is a huge expectation on the team. I hope we would able to deliver by the winning the match,” the Scotsman said.
In other matches on Sunday, Salgaocar will take on Pailan Arrows in Fatorda, while United Sikkim face Dempo in Gangtok. Struggling Mohun Bagan will go up against Air India in Pune.