Chennaiyin FC will aim to return to winning ways and end the year on a high when they take on Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday in a crucial Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 encounter.
Chennaiyin and Bengaluru have faced each other 15 times in the ISL, with Chennaiyin winning four matches. The corresponding fixture last year saw the Marina Machans secure a 2-0 victory, and head coach Owen Coyle will be hoping for a similar outcome this time.
However, the team will be without captain Ryan Edwards, who is suspended for the match, prompting Coyle to likely field an all-Indian backline. “On another day, we would have won the game in Mumbai, building on our victory over Hyderabad.
We’re back at home, and we want to win again and end the year with three points that will push us back towards the top six, which is where we want to be by the end of the season.
The only way we achieve that is by these lads stepping up and showing their quality. We have confidence and belief in those who will take the field,” Coyle said at the pre-match press conference in Chennai.
Bengaluru come into the match as the second-placed team in the league, and Coyle is well aware of the challenge they pose, particularly with Chennaiyin missing key players.
“Bengaluru have been excellent all season. At the start of the campaign, they kept clean sheet after clean sheet. While they have since conceded some goals, they have also been scoring consistently due to their strong offensive players.
For us, being at home, we want to be positive and test their defence as much as possible. To do that, we need to take care of the ball and use it effectively,” Coyle said. “We are under no illusions about the difficulty of this game, but it’s one we are looking forward to. We won our last home game against Hyderabad, gave a strong performance against Mumbai, and want to continue that momentum to secure the points.”
On the team’s availability, Coyle stated that late decisions would be made on Wilmar Jordan Gil and Ankit Mukherjee, both of whom have returned to training after recovering from knocks. He also shared an update on Elsinho, who left the pitch under medical care in the previous home match and is now recovering in Brazil. Elsinho is expected to rejoin the squad in the new year.
