Margao, Feb 21 In a way, it could be termed as a grudge match for table-toppers Mohun Bagan as they take on Churchill Brothers at the Fatorda Stadium here on Saturday.
The visitors from Kolkata have been on a roll this I-League season, notching up nine wins from 12 games to comfortably lead the points table with 29 points, eight points clear of second-placed Punjab.
However, their only loss came at the hands of their Saturday rivals, a familiar foe, the Red Machines who outgunned the Green and Maroons in a high-scoring encounter back in December in the early stages of the league at the Kalyani Stadium.
The visiting gaffer Kibu Vicuna understandably tried to play down the talk of any unfinished business ahead of the game saying, "It is only a football match. We will face the game with the same desire as other games. We know that Churchill are a good team with very good players and playing in their stadium is going to be a tough challenge for us."
That desire has translated to five wins on the trot in recent times with an enviable five-man attack line of former La Liga and Senegalese striker Papa Diawara, VP Suhair, dynamic youngster Nongdamba Naorem, Tajik playmaker Komron Tursunov and Spanish midfield general Joseba Beitia, firing on all cylinders.
The leadership and scoring prowess of yet another Spaniard Fran Gonzalez, who has a league-leading nine goals under his belt so far, will surely give Churchill's Portuguese coach Bernardo Tavares a sleepless night before they face the leaders on Sunday.
Incidentally, the Red Machines are the only team to have gotten a three-pointer against the Mariners this season. Besides this, they will go into the game on the back of two successive wins. They will also take heart from the fact that they have not been too much behind Bagan in the goal-scoring charts.
On being referred to the fact, Tavares brushed it aside completely, "We know that they are now a stronger team than the one we defeated because they have strengthened in some positions."
They're currently placed second in the scoring charts with 21 goals with many a scorer finding the target time and again to churn out crucial results during the ongoing league.
The wiry Trinidadian leader, Willis Plaza, has not been as prolific as last year but still has seven to his name and has scored on crucial occasions. This year he has also received more than enough support from the likes of Lalkhawpuimawia (4), Radanfa Abu Bakr (3), Robert Primus (2) and Vinil Pujary (2) among others.
While a win for the Mariners will give them an 11-point lead at the top, an opposite result will see the Red Machines leapfrog Punjab FC to the second spot, closing the gap with Mohun Bagan to 7 points.
( With inputs from IANS )