NEW DELHI: Two teams in the bottom half of the table -- Chennaiyin FC and Hyderabad FC will be hoping to make a move up the table when they face off at the GMC Stadium, Bambolim on Monday.
Last year's runners-up are seventh with 10 points from eight games while Hyderabad are a point behind in eighth.
However, both teams enter the contest on the back of contrasting form.
While Chennaiyin are unbeaten in their last four games, which included three games against teams in the top six, the Nizams have suffered three successive defeats to Mumbai City, Kerala Blasters and FC Goa respectively and have scored just one goal in these matches.
Csaba Laszlo's side have played entertaining football but what has cost them the most is their profligacy in front of goal.
The stats back up that argument as the team has created 93 chances - joint-most by a team in this ISL campaign but they have the second-worst goal conversion rate and have netted only seven. Striker Jakub Sylvestr and young Indian winger Lallianzuala Chhangte, two players in particular, have been guilty of wasting numerous chances.
"We are working on it, especially with players who have scored goals or taken the shots, like Chhangte or even Sylvestr. Hopefully, we can create the same amount of chances and score even more goals than until now.
I think, in football, it's more difficult to create chances than to score. I want to play in the same way that we have until now and I am really confident. I know the boys will score more," said the former Uganda national team coach.
Hyderabad have also scored 7 goals - with only Odisha FC scoring fewer. And they have conceded a few late goals. But Manuel Marquez feels his team have been unlucky not to get more points on board at this stage of the competition.
"I think anyone would agree with me that we didn't deserve to lose the game against Goa but these kinds of things happen in football. Sometimes, when you concede in the 87th minute, you have to finalise to end the game at 1-1 and not concede the second goal. In the other game against Jamshedpur which ended 1-1 draw, the moment we decided to bring Adil Khan to play with five center backs for the last five minutes, they equalised. Sometimes, it's a bad decision.
We are working on different things tactically and maybe, against Chennaiyin there will be some tactical changes. I think Chennaiyin, Hyderabad and Kerala deserve more points than they have on the table," he opined.