I-League 2018-19: Chennai City FC hot favourites to win the title after Lajong win

It is Chennai City FC’s title to lose after their convincing win over Shillong Lajong on Monday…
Chennai City FC’s convincing win over Shillong Lajong on Monday took them a step closer to their maiden I-League title. With only three matches to go for the South Indian outfit, they are now five points above fellow challengers East Bengal and Real Kashmir FC.

The nerve-racking 3-3 draw against NEROCA FC last week had put the league leaders under pressure and allowed the other teams to catch up. Howevevr, Akbar Nawaz’s men have put some daylight between them and the chasing pack with a win on Monday.

In fact, East Bengal could have drawn level with Chennai City on Sunday but their 1-1 draw against Churchill Brothers also helped the league leaders.

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East Bengal

Real Kashmir too were supposed to play their 17th round fixture against defending champions Minerva Punjab FC but the latter did not turn up for the game citing security concerns in Srinagar.

Chennai next play Mohun Bagan in Coimbatore on February 24. The result of that tie will be extremely crucial in the title race. While East Bengal will hope that their arch-rivals pull off an upset and bag full points from that clash which will help them, Chennai will hope to gather full points yet again and further extend their lead at the top of the table.

Let us take a look at the current title race:

Chennai City FC- Matches played: 17, Points: 37, Matches left: 3

East Bengal - Matches played: 16, Points: 32, Matches left: 4

Real Kashmir FC - Matches played: 16, Points: 32, Matches left: 4

East Bengal and Real Kashmir can gather a maximum of 12 points which will take their tally to 44. If they want to win the title then they will hope that Chennai City do get more than six points from their remaining three fixtures. This calculation depends on the result of East Bengal vs Real Kashmir FC which will be played on February 28.

At this moment, Akbar Nawaz’s Chennai are clear favourites to land the title.