Former champions Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC will play a winning game between the two teams in the Indian Super League (ISL) here on Monday.
Bengaluru are sixth on the points table with 23 points from 17 matches, four behind fourth-placed Kerala Blasters. Odisha are a place below them at seventh, with 22 points from 17 matches.
ISL 2021-22: House , fixtures , Result , Mark sheet , photos
The Blues clocked their nine-game unbeaten streak against the leaders of Hyderabad and then suffered another defeat at NorthEast United FC, derailing their renewed hopes of a semi-final berth somewhat.
“We just need to focus on this game,” he said. There are three points to win, and we need to improve. We played well against NorthEast United for 20 minutes, then we gave up. It was the same in the second half and that’s why we lost two goals.”
“Odisha is a very good team on the counter-press and if you give them space like we saw in the first game that we lost, they can score goals,” he said of his opponents.
Bengaluru relies more on set pieces for their goals while Odisha Hero is one of the highest scorers in open play in ISL 21-22.
Sharing the record with Jamshedpur FC, Bengaluru Hero is the joint top scorer in the ISL with a set-piece of 21-22, scoring 17 runs in the dead-ball situation this season.
When it comes to open play, Odisha has scored 21 goals from open play, which is more than half the goals.
The Blues will also bank on in-form forward Klyton Silva to help the team with goals, as will Odisha which will rely heavily on Jonathan Christian to deliver the goods in advance.
The two Brazilians are the leading scorers for their respective teams and find themselves among the top scorers this season.
Jonathan has scored in each of his last 5 league games. After his goal against Chennaiyin FC in Odisha FC’s last league game, he became the first Odisha FC player to score in 5 straight league games.
Clayton Silva, on the other hand, has scored in two of his last three league matches. Only Greg Stewart (7) has scored more goals from set pieces this season than Clayton Silva (6).
“It is normal in football that you need other teams to deliver results. But we can only control ourselves, but if I am going to think of opponents to help us, it will be of no use. I need to focus on my team and my own results.”
Odisha will also need to win their remaining matches to keep their semi-final hopes alive and Kino Garcia said the team will fight till the last minute of the campaign.
“We know it’s going to be difficult. We still have a chance and everyone wants to fight till the end. Against Bengaluru, we know both the teams need to win to reach the last two matches, There would be little hope of this.
“So we are motivated and the mood in the camp is fine. We need to learn from our mistakes and move on.”
The last time the two teams met in their first game of the season, Odisha won 3-1, but Garcia refused to read too much into it.
“It was a long time ago. We can’t think of it right now, it was the start of the season. Bangalore are a good team and they played unbeaten games before they lost to NorthEast United.
“So we know it will be a tough game for us. We (the players) have the advantage in physical condition because we can rest for two more days. But it will be difficult for both the teams.”
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