If the I-League’s round 20 will play a major role in deciding the fate of the title, then it will play and equally major part in deciding the prime relegation candidate for the season. Sporting Goa and Bharat FC, two of the league’s tables most southerly placed teams, will do battle at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Goa, as eleventh place beckons both these teams, something they want to avoid passionately. However, Bharat FC are braced from getting the drop which further increases the pressure on Sporting to make the most of the tie to move up the table.

For Sporting Goa and their coach Mateus Cotsa, the equation couldn’t have been simpler. Win and they’ll have taken a mighty step towards survival. Draw or lose and they have a bigger chance of saying goodbye to the first division for a year at the very least. The Flaming Oranje have won just ONCE all season. Therefore the impetuous will be on them to set the records straight as they seek to cement their place in the league with whipping of their visitors, the Lions of Pune.

Costa will have a selection headache as Okolie Odafa is expected to sit-out this game with a groin strain whilst Velito Cruz, who assisted Alber Gonsalves’ opening goal against Mumbai FC, is expected to grace the starting line-up. Victorino Fernandes was brought on as a late substitute in their last game and should start against Bharat FC with the lack of a potent striker up front for the Goan outfit. Anthony Wolfe is still growing in influence in attack for the Goans and he will be expected to put in a man of the moment shift against Bharat FC.

The starting eleven certainly won’t mirror many changes as Costa seems to have finally found a formula that works. He needs better finishers though and could use Mahmoud Al-Amenah as the creator-in-chief behind the striker. The good news for the coach is that Brandon Fernandes is quickly becoming a hot talent and will start this game as well.  In Sandesh Jhingan and Miguel Herrera they have some veritable names in the heart of defnese and they will know a clean sheet against Bharat FC will do wonders to their confidence.

So, how does Stuart Watkiss face the onrushing and inflamed challenge of the Flaming Oranje? The English coach will certainly fear the prospects of finishing the season dead last.

His semi-depleted squad will have the likes of Gouramangi Moirangthem, Arindam Bhattacharya, Dharmaraj Ravanan and Syed Nabi back from suspensions and personal leave respectively. A reinforced defense is good news for the Lions’ gaffer who in all probability will face an Odafa-less Sporting.

In attack, his headaches prevail again with Kris Bright still nursing injury. Surajit Bose has been a spark in these troubled times for Watkiss and he will be rewarded with another starting berth. Steven Dias is having a purple patch, as him and Romauld Boco seem to be the ones running the creativity for the Pune-based club. Both will be relied on as Watkiss seeks his first win on the road.

Bharat could avoid the miserable tag of finishing last in the league, though they’ll avoid relegation at least this time, owing to the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) dictum on new clubs. Sporting Goa have no such clause though and they’ll want to consign Bharat FC to a third defeat in four games and buoy their own survival hopes. A fascinating encounter awaits us from 4.30 PM IST.