The last two teams in the league, NorthEast United and Jamshedpur FC will battle against each to avoid finishing last in the ISL table at the end of the season.
The Highlanders went 2-0 against Kerala Blasters away while Jamshedpur FC failed to hold onto their lead in the eventual 2-1 defeat to league leaders Mumbai City FC at home.
NEUFC vs JFC Match Details
Date: Saturday, 04 February 2023
Time: 19:30 (IST)
Venue: JRD Tata Arena, Jamshedpur FC
NEUFC vs JFC Match Preview
NorthEast United knew their ISL season was over a long time ago as only four points managed throughout the campaign left them rock-bottom in the standings. Even with a change of coach and a few acquisitions in the window, there was no change in the graph which was always heading down. According to coach Vincenzo Annese, the Highlanders will use the rest of the ISL games this season as preparation for the Hero Super Cup in April. The cup competition is back after a delay due to the pandemic and this time all 11 sides have qualified for the main contest in a new format. The Italian will try to create more bonding among his players in the period so they could articulate better results in the future. Right now, NorthEast United have to quickly find solutions in attack and defense being the worst team in the division in both. They have scored none and conceded in the last two games against Mumbai City and Kerala Blasters FC. With their closest rivals Jamshedpur FC also showing signs of encouragement in the last games, the chance for a second win this season seemed to have gone as well. In the remaining four matches, the Highlanders could do no more but play damage control.
Jamshedpur FC almost caused the upset of the season when Boris Singh found an opening in Mumbai City FC’s defense to slam in the lead for the home side in the 67th minute. Rather than getting pressured by the situation, the unbeaten league leaders were unnerved as they played the cards from the bench to rescue the match. The Red Miners failed to prevent the turnaround with the Islanders leaving the JRD TATA Arena in a celebratory mood. However, Adrian Boothroyd’s side will hold their heads high after that performance and will look forward to the remainder of the season in a confident manner. It has been a totally opposite and quite shocking season for Jamshedpur FC after they won the Winner Shield last campaign. Sitting in the tenth spot with nine points gathered from 16 matches, it has been far from a title defense with an enormous 33 points separating them from the top of the table and a 14 points difference from the top six. Although their goal difference and other records have not been so poor compared to bottom-placed NorthEast United, both sides struggled to bring an identity to their football this season. Like the Highlanders, the Men of Steels won’t get a favorable game like this in the rest of the season to salvage something out of nothing.
Recent Form
NEUFC: LLDLL
JFC: LLWDL
NEUFC vs JFC Team News
NorthEast United will have striker Wilmar Jordan back from suspension after missing the defeat to Kerala Blasters at Kochi last week. However, to include Jordan back into the starting XI, head coach Vincenzo Annese will have to bench one of the other attacking foreign players which is likely to be either Romain Philippoteaux or Kule Mbombo. The Italian will keep new signing Joseba Beitia in the side for creativity from the middle of the park.
Jamshedpur FC have a fully fit squad available to them. Coach Adrian Boothroyd will retain his eleven from the last game played in the narrow loss to Mumbai City. Daniel Chima got his first assist of the season for Boris Singh’s goal in the last match and both will be important contributors in the remaining games for the Red Miners.
Predicted Lineups
NEUFC: Mirshad Michu; Alex Saji, Masoor Thangalakath, Aaron Evans, Gurjinder Kumar; Joseba Beitia, Mohammed Irshad; Romain Philippoteaux, Parthhib Gogoi, Emil Benny; Wilmar Jordan
JFC: TP Rehenesh; Laldinliana Renthlei, Pratik Chaudhari, Eli Sabia, Ricky Lallawmawma; Emmanuel-Thomas, Pronay Halder; Boris Singh, Rafael Crivellaro, Ritwik Das; Daniel Chima
NEUFC vs JFC Head to head
Jamshedpur FC won the reverse fixture courtesy of a Peter Hartley header from a corner which gave them a 1-0 win. It was the third successive win over NorthEast United for the Men of Steels in the ISL. The Highlanders did pick up a 2-1 success in this meeting in 2021 but that remains the only time they managed three points in this fixture. However, they have not lost at Guwahati in the last three meetings with the last one ending 3-3 with Jose Leudo scoring a dramatic 88th-minute leveler moments after Noe Acosta seemed to have won the thriller for the away side.
NEUFC vs JFC Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Michu (7)
DEF: Irshad (7.5), Evans (7.5), Ricky (8.5)
MID: Boris (8.5), Beitia (7), Benny (7), Ritwik (7)
FW: Philippoteaux (9), Chima (9), Jordan (8)
Vice-captain: Boris Singh
Captain: Daniel Chima
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
