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Bengaluru FC look to end winless streak, take on East Bengal

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Press Trust of India Bengaluru
After going winless in the last six matches, Bengaluru Football Club would look for a reversal of fortunes when they take on table-toppers East Bengal in a crucial I-League encounter at Sree Kanteerava Stadium here tomorrow.

While BFC are placed fifth with three wins in nine games, East Bengal are numero uno with 21 points, having won six of their last 10 games.

"We know it is tough, but we can make it if we play well in all our games," BFC star striker C K Vineet told reporters on the eve of the encounter.

"We know we can do much much better. We want to win the title. We have to focus on present and the future. We cannot live in the past," he added.
 

Though the hosts have not tasted wins in the last six games, they would like to take heart from the unbeaten home record against East Bengal in the last two matches played here.

However, East Bengal have a better overall performance against BFC, who had trounced the hosts on five occasions in their last eight meetings.

"It is going to be a tough game tomorrow, but I believe in my team, and we are on the way to win," BFC Coach Albert Roca said.

East Bengal, on the other hand, are coming into the match with their first 0-1 loss of the season against Aizwal on February 20. Nevertheless, the visitors have been the most prolific scorers in the league with 18 goals, and have conceded five goals.

"They (East Bengal) have good players who have scored a lot of goals. So we have to make sure we are at our defensive best no matter who plays," Roca said.

On the flipside, BFC have not been able to win games because of the failure to score goals, even though the team has created a lot of chances to do so.

"Our team has created most chances and made most passes in the league. We just have to ensure we finish all our chances," Roca said.

The team is also lagging in defence, especially in the absence of John Johnson who had picked up an injury while playing a league match.

"We also suffered a lot on defence. We are still without John. He has been a very important defender for us. He is yet to recover," Roca said.

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

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First Published: Feb 24 2017 | 4:07 PM IST

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