East Bengal will seek to extend its new found form when it hosts a struggling Bengaluru FC in a matchweek-21 fixture of the ISL-10, at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday. The clash assumes importance on the count that both the teams will be wishing to collect the maximum points to brighten their play-off prospects. Bengaluru FC is currently ranked seventh in the league standings with 22 points from 20 outings while East Bengal is at a rung below with 21 points from 20 matches.
With five teams having already ensured their qualification to the play-offs, both Bengaluru and East Bengal are fighting for the sixth spot where Chennaiyin FC is currently positioned with 24 points. East Bengal has reasons to be confident ahead of its home fixture after having downed a strong Kerala Blasters at the latter’s home in its previous outing. East Bengal coach Carles Cuadrat spoke about this “opportunity” emerging after the latest win and hoped that his team will put in the best of efforts to capitalize on it. “This season we are fighting for a play-off spot. There are not many matches left but I am optimistic about the next two matches and hope that the boys remain focused and get the points from the difficult game,” Cuadrat said.
“The mood is positive and we’re training in very good conditions. It is like a playoff game. If we win, we keep going and if we lose, the probability is much less for us to qualify,” said the Bengaluru FC coach Gerard Zaragoza.
