Aizawl FC v Mumbai FC
Saturday, March 4, 2 PM
Pld - 3, W - 2, D - 1, GF - 5, GA - 2
Aizawl FC spent a few hours on top of the I-League table last weekend, and will have an opportunity to reclaim that spot, even if temporarily, as they play the first game of the round at home against Mumbai FC.
Aizawl's biggest strength in recent weeks has been their defence, having conceded just five goals and scored nine in six matches across February, collecting three clean sheets in the process. While a large part of that has been down to the improving consistency of goalkeeper Albino Gomes, head coach Khalid Jamil has also managed to get the best out of his Indian players such as Zohmingliana Ralte, Lalruatthara and Lalramchullova.
Aizawl tend to find goals from different sources across the pitch, and that also makes their attacking players like Kamo Bayi, Jayesh Rane and Syrian Mahmoud Al Amna difficult to contain. Mumbai FC have arrested the slide that saw them lose six games on the bounce after winning the first two, and most of it has been done with some resolute defending of their own at the Cooperage ground in Mumbai.
Mumbai haven't scored a goal in the last 332 minutes of play, but a visit to the team being coached by their former boss could have a galvanising effect on them. They will need every bit of inspiration to record their first win since January 15.
Shillong Lajong v East Bengal
Saturday, March 4, 4:30 PM
Pld - 13, W - 5, D - 3, L - 5, GF - 12, GA - 18
Less than a week into a morale-boosting 3-1 win away to defending champions Bengaluru FC, East Bengal will have another tricky encounter away to an in-form Shillong Lajong.
Lajong coach Thangboi Singto has got his team playing a fluent and creative brand of football, with Cameroon striker Aser Dipanda leading the scoring charts with eight of the 15 goals scored. Lajong are also well rested in comparison with their opponents, with their last match taking place on February 19. Lajong have also not lost at home to East Bengal since 2013.
East Bengal have one major injury concern in the shape of midfielder Wedson Anselme, who limped off at the Kanteerava Stadium and is almost definitely going to be out for a minimum of two weeks for head coach Trevor Morgan. Robin Singh's return to goalscoring form, as well as his call-up to the Indian national team probables, will encourage Morgan, though he will continue to miss the injured striker Willis Plaza.
Churchill Brothers v Mohun Bagan
Saturday, March 4, 7 PM
Pld - 35, W - 6, D - 18, L - 11, GF - 44, GA - 44
Potentially the match of the round, all the other teams will also be closely following all the action at the Tilak Maidan when Churchill Brothers host Mohun Bagan in what is one of the famed rivalries of the national league.
The hosts will be buoyant following a convincing 3-0 win over a competent DSK Shivajians side in the previous match, one that featured a long-range screamer from midfielder Surabuddin Mollick. Coach Derrick Pereira will be aware that Mohun Bagan are one of the form teams of the competition, having not lost in 13 matches across the league and their AFC Cup qualifying stages this year.
There are goals coming in from all three strikers Darryl Duffy, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singh, though the only worry for head coach Sanjoy Sen will be the leaky defence that has been exploited in recent games by all opponents. Bagan also don't have very pleasant memories of the ground in Vasco, where they failed to beat Salgaocar in a must-win Federation Cup encounter the last time they played a crunch match there, in January 2015.
Minerva Punjab v Bengaluru FC
Sunday, March 5, 4:30 PM
Pld - 1, D - 1, GF - 1, GA - 1
Minerva Punjab are currently in a six-match unbeaten run in their maiden I-League campaign, all the more creditable because it came immediately after four successive defeats. Surinder Singh's men have only played four of their first 11 matches at home, and have not lost since a 5-0 defeat at the hands of East Bengal in their debut game at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC are win-less since winning their first three matches of the season, and have endured some poor luck along the way. Nowhere was it more evident than the return fixture on February 11, where Bengaluru made all the running and dominated every passage of play, but had to share points after a Kamalpreet Singh goal cancelled out an early Sunil Chhetri strike.
Chhetri's relative return to form has been one of the better things to have happened for Bengaluru, and he will be joined by new signing Marjan Jugovic on his return to the stadium where he once donned the home colours of JCT.
Chennai City FC v DSK Shivajians
Sunday, March 5, 7 PM
Pld - 1, L - 1, GA - 2
Chennai City FC were the first team in the ongoing season to have had a managerial change in the middle of the league, and while V Soundararajan has begun with four points from his first two games, he brings a team which has lost two on the bounce, conceding five goals and scoring just once.
These two teams had met in January, when Shivajians ran out 2-0 winners with a good team performance in Pune, but much has changed since then. Some of the players on the Chennai roster have impressed, particularly their Brazilian attacking players Marcos and Charles.
Karanjit Singh has been their standout performer, though, and they will again look to the experienced goalkeeper to keep things quiet in defence. Shivajians are a good attacking side, though, and that is why this could be a match decided in favour of whichever team makes fewer mistakes in defence.