Aizawl: Defending champions Minerva Punjab FC will aim to set their house in order when they play Aizawl FC in the I-League football match here on Saturday.
Both teams find themselves at the bottom of the 11-team standing in the early stages.
Aizawl are placed ninth with two points from three games while Minerva are right at the bottom with a solitary point from their two outings so far.
Both Aizawl coach Gift Raikhan and Minerva’s Irish Technical Director Paul Munster have been plagued by a misfiring strike force and would be keen to correct that urgently. While Aizawl have scored thrice in their three games so far, one off a penalty and another of a set-piece, the defending champions surprisingly have not managed to get on the board.
For Aizawl, Liberian striker Ansumanah Kromah has been guilty of extreme profligacy and Lalremsanga, who had a good game in their opener against Shillong and has not played since, might be an option for Raikhan.
The other positive for him from the previous game against Neroca FC being the first half performance of Kyrgistani Bektur Talgat, where he was building and leading attacks with a lot of skill and purpose.
The back four, led by Nigerian Kareem Nurain and Gurpreet in goal, have been solid giving the coach some sense of comfort.
As for the defending champions, it is true that they have almost built an entirely new side from last year and have new strategies as well.
They have invested heavily in highly rated Japanese frontman Yu Kuboki and the fact that they have not been able to play him yet due to injury might also be a contributing factor.
But even so, with the likes of William Opoku, experienced striker Sabeeth, young Akash Sangwan, Dilliram Sanyasi and Nongdamba Naoremin there were enough youth and flair in their ranks to get them on the scoreboard and Munster will have to address this sooner rather than later.
Given the situation that the two teams find themselves in, this promises to be an exciting encounter with both teams desperate for a win. (IANS)
