CHENNAI: Chennaiyin FC have won both their away matches but it won't be easy when they take on Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium on Thursday. Odisha notched up a stunning win against East Bengal last week coming back from 2-0 down and will look to keep the momentum going. For CFC, who are on 10 points from six games, this is the chance to break into the top-six.
Scoring has been an issue for CFC but with Petar Sliskovic and Nasser el Khayati getting among the goals, German coach Thomas Brdaric has heaved a sigh of relief.
Brdaric sounded confident about a good show against Odisha. "I think it'll be a high-scoring match tomorrow as both the teams like to play attacking football," Brdaric said.
Chennayain have been dealing with a lot of injuries and Brdaric had to unearth four new faces against Jamshedpur FC last week. But the team got a boost as their Ghanaian forward Kwame Karikari will be available. Karikari was CFC's star when they beat ATK Mohun Bagan in their first game.
"Odisha will try to play strong and aggressive football tomorrow. They know how to score, and we are working on how to deny them. It has been a short week, so we did not have much time to prepare for the next match. We are still working and know that we cannot afford to give them any space tomorrow," Brdaric explained.
Odisha have won four of their six games and are in great form. They also have the ability to strike late with eight of their 10 goals coming in the second half.
"Depending on the opposition team, we adjust ourselves. We change the way we attack and press. Against Chennaiyin, we will do the same," said Gombau, adding: "We have a few players who are not 100%, but we have a good squad. Last week the substitutes made a big impact in our comeback win. This shows that every single player can play."
