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FC Goa to face Odisha FC in ISL on Feb 6

FC Goa to face Odisha FC in ISL on Feb 6

Margao, Feb 5 (UNI) FC Goa will lock horns with Odisha FC in the Indian Super League (ISL)

match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here in Goa on Thursday.

The Gaurs are aiming for a third league double against Odisha FC, since they had won the reverse fixture by a 4-2 margin on January 4, 2025. FC Goa have won seven out of the 11 encounters against the Juggernauts against the ISL.

This makes them only one of the two teams in the league history, besides Mohun Bagan Super Giant (against East Bengal FC), to stay unbeaten against a single opponent after facing them over 10 times.

In their previous clash, FC Goa lost 1-3 to Jamshedpur FC, which snapped their 12-game-long unbeaten run that comprised eight triumphs. The Gaurs will be eyeing to avoid consecutive defeats

in the same season for the first time since April last year, when they were defeated by Mumbai City FC twice.

Odisha FC, on the other hand, have momentum in their side, since they won their last away game by 3-2 against Bengaluru FC, and then drew 2-2 at home against NorthEast United FC.

Prior to the match against the Blues, the Sergio Lobera-coached side was on a three-game-long winless streak on the road (D2 L1). The Juggernauts have previously managed back-to-back away wins only twice, between November-December 2024 and December 2023-February 2024.

FC Goa are placed third in the points table with 33 points from 18 matches, as they have won nine encounters and drawn six times. They will want to surpass the second-placed Jamshedpur FC (34), whereas Odisha FC are also three points (25) adrift the sixth-placed Mumbai City FC (28).

FC Goa have emerged victorious in all three home matches against Odisha FC, scoring exactly three goals in each encounter.

Despite a slightly lower shot conversion rate (12.8%) compared to Odisha FC (15.9%), FC Goa’s attacking contingent is formidable. The Gaurs have taken the fourth-most shots (195) amongst all teams in the ISL, also scoring the fourth-most goals (33).

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Odisha FC have scored the second-most goals in the ISL (36), averaging two strikes per game thus far. Diego Mauricio leads their charts by finding the back of the net nine times, followed by Jerry Mawihmingthanga (5), Mourtada Fall (4).

Mourtada Fall has recorded 21 blocks this season, making him one of only two players to surpass 20 blocks (alongside Alex Saji – 23). Fall is three blocks away from equaling the record for most in a single ISL season by an Odisha FC player (24 – Steven Taylor, 2020-21).

FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez encouraged his team to rediscover their form after their 3-1 loss to Jamshedpur FC.

“We need to play in the way that we were doing, at least, to be competitive like in the previous games,” he said.

“We love to keep possession of the ball,” Marquez said

Odisha FC assistant coach Anthony Fernandes spoke about his team’s playing template.

“We love to have possession of the ball and we do that to a great extent. We create plenty of

chances and that shows our creativity,” he said.

The two teams have faced each other 11 times in the ISL, with FC Goa winning seven times and four games producing draws. An average of 3.27 goals has been scored in this fixture.

With three goals in this fixture, FC Goa’s Brison Fernandes he is one away from levelling Noah Sadaoui as the top scorer in FC Goa vs Odisha FC clashes. However, after scoring a brace in the reverse fixture, he has netted just once in his last five games. Brison has recorded eight goal contributions (6G 2A) along with winning 10 aerial duels thus far.

Odisha FC’s Ahmed Jahouh is set to become the first foreign player and the 13th overall to reach 150 ISL appearances. Among players with 150+ appearances, only Manvir Singh (57.6%) and Subhasish Bose (56.3%) have a better win rate than Jahouh’s 53%, which the midfielder has registered in 149 appearances so far.

FC Goa’s Sandesh Jhingan has averaged 33 passes per game at 83% accuracy, winning six tackles, 26 aerial duels, making 12 blocks, 18 recoveries, 79 clearances, along with scoring and assisting once each. He has enabled the Gaurs to keep five clean sheets in the current campaign.

UNI BM

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