Bhubaneswar: The Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 steps into a new matchweek that kicks off with a potentially blistering face-off between Odisha FC and East Bengal FC at the Kalinga Stadium here on Tuesday. The two teams must be determined to immediately find their footing in this campaign since the Red & Gold Brigade has yet to open its account, whereas the Juggernauts sit at the 10th spot with four points from as many encounters.
However, a duel between these two eastern outfits often produces fireworks, and the fans on the home turf of Odisha FC must be gearing up for an end-to-end battle that pushes each team to put their best efforts forward to walk away with three points.
The two teams have locked horns eight times against each other in the Indian Super League (ISL), with Odisha FC winning six matches and East Bengal FC emerging victorious once. A solitary game has resulted in a draw, with the Juggernauts scoring 24 goals as compared to the 17 of the Red & Gold Brigade.
The Odisha FC head coach Sergio Lobera called upon the entire squad to step up to the task whenever required. He stressed the need for a strong bench and insisted that a variety of options allows him to mold his plans differently and have greater chances of winning the game.
“We need to manage the squad well. If you have a very good squad, you have more chances to win the game. If you have good options coming from the bench, we can change the game. We need to manage the timings and substitutions well and this is our job as the coaches to get the best performance possible not only from the players who are starting the match but also the ones who are coming from the bench,” Lobera said in the pre-match press conference.
East Bengal FC head coach Oscar Bruzon pointed at specific facets of the gameplay in which his team needs to uplift its performance standards, saying that a win is the need of the hour for them to increase the confidence levels in the team.
“We need to understand where to shape, the offensive triggers, to be more intense, to win duels, win second balls, to go big on the defensive transitions, and to have fewer spaces in between our lines. We need a positive result to keep everyone in full confidence,” Bruzon said.
–IANS