Kerala Blasters FC and FC Pune City come face to face in their final group fixture of the Hero Indian League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi as they push for a spot in the semi-finals of the competition.
Having played very poorly in their last three fixtures, which yielded two defeats and a draw against FC Goa, Chennaiyin FC and NorthEast United FC, the Blasters are now in a do or die situation as they need to register a win to book a spot in the semi-finals.
Despite their poor results of late, Kerala Blasters will be going into this game with some level of confidence as they were able to register a 2-1 away win over Pune City in the reverse fixture.
Also, the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned side will be boosted by the fact that they have only lost one game at home this season.
And Blasters player-manager David James feels that these factors will play to his side's advantage when they face Pune on Sunday.
"We played Pune before and we won (1-2), but the positive thing about the fixture is that both sides have to win and the equivalent results from the Kolkata and Delhi games affect both teams in the same way," James told ISL's official website.
"We have only one defeat at home, thanks to a moment of brilliance from Chennai, and this is what gives us confidence going into tomorrow's game," he added.
Although there is a chance of both sides getting excluded from the semi-finals if Delhi manage to beat Chennaiyin FC in the early fixture on Tuesday, James insists that his side will be still focusing on beating Pune.
"But we have one focus, that is, beating Pune, and even if the Delhi result goes against us, we still want to win it," he added.
Meanwhile, Pune will also be desperate to beat Kerala Blasters on Tuesday as they are also facing a must win situation in order to book a place in the last four of the competition.
The Hrithik Roshan co-owned side have also not been in the best of forms of late, having only recorded a single win in their last seven fixtures.
Still Pune City head coach Franco Colomba insists that his side are not out of the running as yet.
"Well, the position of the teams is normal, because it is two good teams playing against each other. Kerala won at our home ground, because of which I have a lot of respect for them, but that is one game," the Italian boss told ISL's official website.
"I think it is equally possible of Kerala to go through as much as it is possible for us to go through because of the position we are in at the moment. There is a saying 'it is not over until it is over', and therefore I believe that our chances are not quite over just yet."
Where to Watch Live
The ISL match is scheduled for a 7pm IST (2:30pm BST, 9:30am ET) start with live TV coverage in India provided by a lot of channels including Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Gold, Asianet Movies, Suvarna Channel and Jalsha Movies. Viewers can also watch the ISL match via free live streaming online on Starsports.com.
US viewers can live stream the action on FoxSoccer2go, while Europe viewers can catch the action live on Eurosport or their online Player. Middle East and North Africa viewers can watch the game on Bein Sports or via live streaming on Bein Sports Connect.
South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa audience can catch the ISL match live on SuperSport or SuperSport Online. Australia viewers can catch the match live on Fox Sports 2 or via their live video option, online.
