ISL 2021-22, OFC vs SCEB Preview: SC East Bengal eye three points against in-form Odisha FC

Vasco, November 29: SC East Bengal will look to register their first win of this season's Indian Super League when they lock horns with high-flying Odisha FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Goa on Tuesday (November 30).

Odisha FC, who won their first match 3-1 against Bengaluru FC courtesy Javi Hernandez's brace, will hope to continue their winning run while SC East Bengal will focus on bouncing back after a defeat to arch-rivals ATK Mohun Bagan.

"Our only intention is to win and grab the three points," SCEB coach Jose Manuel Diaz said at the pre-match press conference.

The Kolkata Derby can be an exhausting experience for the players both physically and mentally and the SCEB boss rued the lack of recovery time.

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"We have to make changes to the team that played against ATK Mohun Bagan because the starters of that match only had one day to recover," he said.

Skipper Arindam Bhattacharya is set to miss the game against Odisha FC after suffering an injury during the ATKMB match. Suvam Sen, who impressed after coming off the bench, will be handed a start, Diaz confirmed on Monday (November 29).

The former Real Madrid Castilla coach did not rule out starting defender Adil Khan against Odisha FC.

"Our only goal while choosing the team is to pick the best eleven who will win the match for SC East Bengal. Everyone in the squad will get opportunity going forward," Diaz said.

Diaz defended his strikers and said they did not get as many chances as they would've liked.

"Our strikers didn't get enough opportunities in the previous match because the team didn't play well enough to create the opportunities," he said.

Diaz, when asked about the strategy SCEB will look to implement, was quite straight-forward.

"We are concentrating on repeating the good things we did in the first match and avoiding the mistakes we committed in the last match," he concluded.

Odisha FC, who got off to a winning start, want to take it one game at a time as the head coach Kiko Ramirez calls on his team to give their best.

"The strategy is to keep being competitive. At the end, we cannot live in the last game, that was good. We need to live in the present and think for the future. Our thought is to compete in the best way possible next match," Ramirez said during the press conference.

When asked about Javi Hernandez's form in the previous game, the Spanish coach explained, "Javi, off-course, has been in a good shape and he scored two goals. But, without his teammates, he will not be able to perform that well.

"We need to think that football is all about teamwork. Javi is okay but without rest of the teammates he cannot achieve these goals."

Odisha FC vs SC East Bengal Match Details

Match Venue: Tilak Maidan in Vasco da Gama, Goa

Match Date: Tuesday, November 30

Kick Off Time: 7:30 PM IST

Live Telecast: Star Sports Network - Star Sport 2 and Star Sports 2HD

Live Streaming: Disney+HotStar VIP