Key Points
FC Goa leads with 42 points and strong recent form
Punjab FC needs complex scenarios to qualify
Match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium decides playoff hopes
The Gaurs have 42 points in 21 games and are in promising form with four victories in their last five encounters. Their target would be to secure the second spot, currently leading the third-placed Jamshedpur FC (37) by five points, since a top-two finish guarantees a semifinal place.
Punjab FC have garnered 24 points from 21 games, and the scenarios that could see them qualify for the playoffs are dependant on unlikely results.
The Panagiotis Dilmperis-coached side needs to win all of their remaining encounters and hope that NorthEast United FC lose their two matches or Mumbai City FC win no more than one point. Punjab FC will also need Odisha FC and East Bengal FC to drop points in at least one of the games that they are to play now.
Punjab FC need to ensure that they have a superior goal difference to Kerala Blasters FC and Chennaiyin FC, who can finish at the same points as them.
FC Goa have been unbeaten against Punjab FC in the ISL, winning twice in their last three matches, including a 2-1 triumph in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign. A victory here will equal their best-ever tally of four league doubles in a single ISL season, a feat they previously scaled in 2019-20 and 2023-24. Punjab FC's struggles reflect the fact that they have not kept a clean sheet against FC Goa thus far.
FC Goa and Punjab FC have faced each other three times in the ISL, with the Gaurs winning twice and one game ending in a draw.
Punjab FC head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis said that his team would provide a formidable fight to the visiting Gaurs. "Our players were really focused during the training session, and they have understood everything pretty well. We will see a team that will be an equal opponent to FC Goa," he said.
FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez outlined that his side has its eyes set on three points. "We are targeting the three points. We need to be thinking only about the coming game, and we know that we need to win at least two games to be in the second position," he said.
