Lowly East Bengal to host Gokulam Kerala in a crucial I-League clash

The South Indian outfit have recently parted ways with star striker Antonio German.

Eight-placed East Bengal host fifth-placed Gokulam Kerala on 8th December 2018, in the Salt Lake Stadium, for a crunch I-League clash, in what could have an impact in how the table will be by the end of this year.

Gokulam gaffer Bino George will be aiming to notch an important victory, with the hosts currently going through a bad patch of form. He said, "I know East Bengal lost their last three matches, but for us this is an away match, so we are not under any pressure. My boys are ready to fight, and are excited."

Recently, the Kerala club had to part ways with star striker Antonio German, who left due to personal reasons. In terms of losing German, George noted "There is no star in our team. Football is a team game, and we can play without German."

When asked if the presence of East Bengal's Costa Rican World Cupper, Johnny Acosta could have an impact in tomorrow's result, Bino George quipped, "He has played all the matches for them. But we all saw what happened in the previous fixtures. So that is not a problem for my players."

The Kolkata-based side are indeed playing poorly recently, having lost three out of five matches in the I-League. Their gaffer Alejandro Menéndez stated, "The team is training well. We have analysed all the matches and reviewed all our small mistakes, and are going to rectify them. We started well, and won difficult fixtures. I am happy with the general performance. Maybe we need to improve in some positions."

The Spaniard further noted, "I am happy with the physical strength of my team. If you see the other teams, their players are having cramps and injuries after the match but our players are always ready and fit. I am happy with all the players."

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Team News

East Bengal

The team is nearly fit and ready for the fixture. Laldanmawia had some physical problems but now he is fine.

Gokulam Kerala

Gokulam will be travelling to Kolkata with their full squad.

Probable Lineups

East Bengal

Dagar, Chullova, Borja, Acosta, Manoj, Kamalpreet, Lalrindika, Laldanmawia, Brandon, Esqueda, Justin.

Gokulam Kerala

Shibinraj, Deepak, Ortiz, Addo, Timothy, Castro, Rashid, Das, Gani, Rajesh, Suhair.

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Broadcast

The game kicks off at 5 PM IST on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at the Salt Lake Stadium. The game will be telecasted live on Star Sports 3 along with Hotstar and Jio TV.