Both Mohammedan Sporting and five-time champion Dempo would be looking to get back to winning ways when they face-off in Round 12 of the I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium here Saturday evening.
Both teams could only manage a draw in the last round. Mohammedan Sporting played out a goalless stalemate with local rivals Mohun Bagan while Dempo were held to a 1-1 draw by Pune FC in Goa despite taking the lead through Brazilian Beto.
Only a point separates the two sides in the table with Mohammedan Sporting in seventh spot and Dempo 10th. But the Kolkata side have slightly better form on their side as they are unbeaten in their last three games and have also kept a clean sheet in each of those matches.
Brazilian Luciano Sobrosa has been the key for the Mohammedan defence and it will be further boosted by the signing of India international defender Nirmal Chettri, who is available to make his debut.
However, goal scoring has been a problem for the black and whites with just 10 goals in as many games and Brazilian Josimar has scored seven of them.
"With a bit more luck we could have won against Mohun Bagan. But we are now focusing on the next game and hopefully our finishing will get better," Mohammedan Sporting coach Moshood Bola Abdulaziz said.
Dempo have picked more points in away matches and have happy memories of their last visit to Kolkata as they thumped AFC Cup semi-finalists East Bengal 3-1 in Kalyani.
Their Australian coach Arthur Papas would be hoping for a similar performance and result but his side will have to find a way of not throwing away leads as they have lost six points from winning positions.
This is the first time the I-League champions are currently eight points off the top and thus can't afford to drop anymore if they want to challenge for the title. But Mohammedan Sporting, whose home attendances have been consistently good so far, are difficult to beat in Kolkata as they have lost just one of their previous five matches.
Dempo have won both the previous two meetings so Mohammedan Sporting have the chance to improve the head-to-head record.
