Two losses in the first two games and the pressure is right on the league-phase toppers from last season Chennaiyin FC. It doesn't get any easier, as the team from Chennai travel to India's favourite vacation location to play the unbeaten FC Goal in a crucial Indian Super League game in Fatorda on Sunday.
Poor defending saw Chennaiyin lose their first game of the ISL 2015 season against Atletico de Kolkata eight days ago, before Marco Materazzi's men went down 1-0 at Delhi Dynamos on Thursday.
An away game against FC Goa is not the kindest of third matches they could have hopes for, considering they have lost their first two, but Materazzi now needs to show why he is being paid the big bucks, by inspiring a " that is more like Chennaiyin" performance from his players.
"We've worked on what we need to do and we've planned well for the Goa game," Chennaiyin FC assistant manager Vivek Nagul said. "We know their ability, and we've planned according to that, and we're ready for the show.
"No panic at the moment, but yes, it's a disappointment that we lost two games in a row. We want to apologise to all our Chennaiyin fans, but we want to assure them that we'll come back with a bang.
"We've planned our sessions, we've planned what to do for the next games, and game by game we'll go according to the situation."
It is not like FC Goa have made a searing start to ISL 2015, with a win and a draw coming their way in the first two matches. The fixture list has been a little kind to them in that they play their first three matches at home, and at the start of the season, if you had asked Zico if he would take seven points from the first three home matches, he would have probably said "yes."
However, to get to those seven points, Goa need to pick up a win against Chennaiyin. Zico's men will certainly enjoy playing more against a less-assured Chennaiyin defence than the one against Atletico de Kolkata.
Despite playing with an extra man for the bulk of the second half, Goa only just managed to scrape a point against the champions, thanks to an 81st minute strike from Keenan Almeida.
While Atletico's defence is one of the best in the ISL, the same cannot be said of Chennaiyin's, and that could be the difference in this match.
Nagul kept stressing that Chennaiyin have a different plan in mind for FC Goa, but the crucial aspect for the Chennai team will be to get their attacking groove on. Last season, even while conceding goals, they managed to score more goals at the other end, and time is ripe for the likes of Elano and Fikru Teferra to come to the fore.
Where to Watch Live
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Chennaiyin FC vs Atletico de Kolkata is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start, with live TV coverage in India on Star Sports 2/HD, Star Sports 3/HD, Star Gold, Star Utsav (both Hindi),Jalsha Movies (Bengali), Jaya Max (Tamil), Asianet Movies (Malayalam) and Suvarna TV (Kannada). The ninth match of ISL 2015 can also be watched via live streaming online by viewers in India and over a 100 other countries on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Eurosport is the place to be if viewers in Europe and South East Asia want to watch FC Goa vs Chennaiyin FC live, while the match can also be live streamed on Eurosport Player.
Viewers in the US and Australia can watch Chennai vs Goa live on Fox Sports, while the online live stream option is on Foxsoccer2go and Foxtel. Audience in Canada can watch the Indian Super League 2015 game live on CBN and ATN.
Viewers in the UK can watch the exciting ISL 2015 live on Star Gold, while Middle East and North Africa viewers can catch the action live on OSN, with the live streaming option on OSN Play.
