AFC Cup: Odisha FC faces Central Coast Mariners in Zonal playoff semis

Odisha FC will be up against one of the top Australian clubs, Central Coast Mariners in a crucial away leg assignment at the AFC Cup Inter-zone play-off semi-final at the Industree Group Stadium, Gosford on Thursday.

This is the first leg of the home-away format with Odisha's home game to take place later on 14th March.

Odisha FC makes it to the knockout stage of the AFC Cup for the first time after they topped their South-Asian zonal group D with 12 points. They received a direct bye into the Inter-zone play-off semi-final.

Meanwhile, the Aussie club reached here after beating fellow A-League side Macarthur FC 3-2 in the ASEAN Zonal Final after extra time.

Odisha FC is currently sitting on the top of their domestic league, the Indian Super League while the Mariners coming after an unbeaten run of five matches is sitting on the second position of the A-League.

Key players to watch out for

Odisha will be relying on their forward pairing of Fijian Roy Krishna and the Brazilian Diego Mauricio to put up the goal-scoring threat. Roy is in very good form this season and currently leading the Golden Boot race of ISL with 12 goals.

The 23-year-old Colombian striker, Angel Torres will lead the Mariners while the Englishmen, Ryan Edmondson who scored a hat trick in this AFC Cup season will offer a threat from the bench. Torres is the leading goal-scorer for CCM in A-league this season with 11 goals.

Schedule

Matchday:- 7th March

Time:- 1:30 PM IST

Venue:- Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

Live streaming

The AFC Cup clash between India's Odisha FC and Australian club Central Coast Mariners will have the TV telecast on the Sports18 network in India. The fans can also enjoy the live streaming on the Fancode app or website.