Kolkata: There's little to pick between East Bengal FC and Chennaiyin FC, who face each other in their ISL match at the Salt Lake stadium here on Saturday.
In the nine matches against each other so far, East Bengal and Chennaiyin have won twice each with five encounters ending in draws. Languishing at the 10th and 11th spots on the points table respectively, both the sides are still hoping against hope to make the top six.
On identical 18 points, they trail the sixth-placed Mumbai City FC (28) by 10 points now with only a handful of games left to turn their fortunes around.
"Super Six is still achievable, not impossible," EB coach Oscar Bruzon said. "We still have six matches left, we will try to do our best, and our focus now is the next game against Chennaiyin FC," he added.
His Chennaiyin counterpart Owen Coyle insisted that his team will work towards getting positive results to sign off the season on a happy note.
"We have players who are really good, who can help us win games. We need to finish the season strongly," he said.
While Chennaiyin FC will look to snap their seven-game-long winless run, the hosts would look to do a league double in the ISL, after Bengaluru FC (2022-23) and Hyderabad FC (2023-24).
East Bengal's newest recruit Raphael Messi Bouli, who arrived in the city on Friday, paid a visit to the side's practice session in the evening. The side has failed to find the back of the net in seven matches this season. However, it remains to be seen whether the Cameroonian forward will take the field on Saturday.
Spanish midfielder Saul Crespo is expected to make a comeback from injury. Although Anwar Ali has also rejoined practice, but he is unlikely to play on Saturday.
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