FC Goa will be locking horns with FC Pune City in match no. 25 of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2015 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Friday.
ISL 2015 is nearing the halfway stage and the points table is nicely poised at the moment. But FC Pune City have a real good chance ahead of them on Friday. David Platt and his boys in orange and blue stripes can extend their lead at the top of the ISL 2015 points table.
Meanwhile, FC Goa have lost a bit of momentum after a good start to the tournament. They are currently placed at the fourth position and if they can clinch a victory against FC Pune City, they can reclaim the top spot in the ISL 2015 points table.
"Loss is always difficult...we lost, but still we are going to go after this victory, we are going to give everything we have, to try and win the game and if we beat them we'll again be at the top of the table," FC Goa coach Zico told the reporters at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
"It's not like I play according to the other team. We have our studies, we watch videos and all; I alert them to the strong points of the opponents. And there's no point just talking, we have to practice that too. 70-80% goals of Pune come from headers. So we're marking that, we're practicing over it. You can train for it but sometimes in the game it still happens. I hope it doesn't happen."
FC Goa will also have to deal with a number of injured players in the form of Joffre, Reinaldo, Daryl Duffy, Keenan Almeida, Victorino Fernandes and Lucio.
"We have to be patient, we have 90 minutes to win a game. We can't try to do everything at the same time. We know all these injuries are bad for the team. We are being cautious about that and we will field them only if they are 100% fit, because any mistake on our part now can get a player injured for the rest of the tournament. Better to save them for two and three games than lose them for the tournament," Zico added.
On the other hand, FC Pune City are coming into this match on the back of a thrilling victory against Kerala Blasters at home. They seem to be riding high on confidence ahead of their encounter against FC Goa on Friday. And coach David Platt felt that they are in a good position from where they can qualify for the semi-finals.
"We're coming towards the half-way stage. You look at the teams that are in it, it fluctuates. Every couple of games, you think, 'Ok, these are the strong teams, these are the teams that need to do a little more work', and then that changes. What this league has taught me is that you don't know where the next result is coming from. So there's no time for me to think we're favourites, we're not favorites! I care only about the next game that comes, to qualify. We're in a healthy position to qualify for the further stages, at the moment, but we can't take our eyes off the ball," Platt told mediapersons.
Where to Watch Live
FC Goa vs FC Pune City is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start. These are the channels in India that will show this ISL 2015 Match 15 live --Star Sports 2,Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3,Star Utsav, Star Gold(both Hindi),Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jaya Max (Tamil),Suvarna TV (Kannada) andJalsha Movies (Bengali). The ISL 2015 match can also be watched via live streaming online (free) in India, and over a 100 countries, on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK, South East Asia, including Singapore and Hong Kong, can watch FC Goa vs FC Pune City live on Star Gold, while audience in Canada can watch the Indian Super League 2015 game live on CBN and ATN.
Eurosport will show the Indian Super League match live in Europe and South East Asia, while the FC Goa vs FC Pune City match can also be live streamed onEurosport Player. Viewers in Sub Saharan Africa can watch the ISL 2015 game live on Zuku and SuperSport.
Middle East and North Africa viewers will be able to catch the FC Goa vs FC Pune City action live on OSN, with the live streaming option on OSN Play.
Viewers in the US and Australia can watch the ISL 2015 match live on Fox Sports, while the online live stream option is on Foxsoccer2go and Foxtel.
