Confident ATK meets Odisha

The Kolkata outfit (30 points) trails FC Goa (33 points) by three points but a win over Odisha would once again reinstate it at the pole position owing to a better goal difference for now, along with the head-to-head record. Antonio Habas’s team is coming into the game on the back of three consecutive victories without conceding a single goal.

The defence line, led by Agus Garcia and Pritam Kotal, has been at its best, not allowing the opposition to get into dangerous areas. The good news is that David Williams got some minutes under his belt in the previous game after recovering from an injury. Roy Krishna has been the star performer with as many as 10 goals to his name.

Edu Garcia has been exceptional as well and Habas would be perplexed on how to include him in the starting eleven with the return of Williams. Josep Gombau’s Odisha needs to get back to winning ways in order to boost its hopes of making it to the top four. Having lost striker Aridane Santana due to injury, it has roped in Manuel Onwu from Bengaluru FC on loan until the end of the season. The Spaniard hasn’t disappointed either with two goals on debut against FC Goa last week. Shubham Sarangi, who has been impressive this season by adapting to the full-back position, is back in contention for a start after serving his suspension alongside central defender Carlos Delgado.

Odisha is placed sixth at the moment with 21 points from 15 matches. It is are battling with Mumbai City FC (26 points from 16 matches) and Chennaiyin FC (21 points from 14 matches) for a place in the knockout stage.