FC Goa will look to cement its semifinal spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) Cup when it travels to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to face Punjab FC in a league-phase match, here on Thursday.
The Gaurs have 42 points in 21 games and are in promising form with four victories in their last five encounters.
Punjab FC, on the other hand, has garnered 24 points from 21 games and still has a narrow chance to qualify for the final six.
To do so, it needs to win all of its remaining encounters, and hope that NorthEast United FC loses its two matches or Mumbai City FC wins no more than one point.
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Moreover, the Shers will also need Odisha FC and East Bengal FC to drop points in at least one of the games that they are to play now. They need to further ensure that they have a superior goal difference to Kerala Blasters FC and Chennaiyin FC, which can finish at the same points as them.
FC Goa has been unbeaten against Punjab FC in the ISL, winning twice in its last three matches including a 2-1 triumph in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.
A victorious outing here will equal its best-ever tally of four league doubles in a single ISL season, a feat it previously scaled in 2019-20 and 2023-24.
Goa’s head coach Manolo Marquez outlined that his side has their eyes set on three points.
“We are targeting the three points. We need to be thinking only about the coming game, and we know that we need to win at least two games to be in the second position,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Punjab FC’s struggles reflect from the the fact that it has not kept a clean sheet against FC Goa thus far. Its head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis said that his team will provide a formidable fight to the visiting Gaurs.
“Our players were really focused during the training session and they have understood everything pretty well. We will see a team that will be an equal opponent to FC Goa,” he said.
The match is scheduled for a 7:30 pm kick-off.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com