Chennaiyin have scored once in four ISL games, and East Bengal bring nine goals from two to Chennai tonight
East Bengal have won both their ISL games so far but are winless in Asia, and they visit a Chennaiyin side still looking for a first win.
Nov 7, 2026
Chennaiyin FC have scored one goal in four ISL games this season. East Bengal scored nine in their first two. The two meet at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai tonight, kick-off 7:30pm IST, in the last round before the international break.
On paper it is a mismatch. The champions have played twice in the league and won both, 4-0 against Churchill Brothers in Fatorda and 5-1 against Inter Kashi, and both of those came away from home. Chennaiyin have two points and have not won yet.
One goal in four games
Irfan Yadwad put them ahead against FC Goa on the opening weekend, and Chiki’s header 11 minutes later made it 1-1. That is still Chennaiyin’s only goal. Since then they have lost 2-0 at Bengaluru FC and 1-0 at Mohun Bagan, where Manvir Singh’s 85th-minute winner punished a side that had wasted plenty of chances.
Their last game was a 0-0 at home against Kerala Blasters on 31 October. Adrian Luna hit the woodwork with a second-half penalty, and Yadwad hit the bar. Emmanuel Imanishimwe was sent off in stoppage time after a scuffle, so he is suspended tonight, and Clifford Miranda is also without Maheson Singh.
They make chances and keep missing them, which is a bad habit to bring into a game against East Bengal. The champions have let in one goal in two league games, and that was an own goal.
A bad run in Asia
The champions do arrive with a bruise. Their AFC Champions League Two campaign has gone badly: a 2-2 draw in Amman, a 3-2 home defeat to Al Shorta, a 0-0 in Oman and then a 2-0 home defeat to Al Seeb on 3 November, both goals in the last six minutes. That left them bottom of Group D without a win in four.
Anwar Ali hurt his hamstring against Al Seeb and is unlikely to play. Antonio López Habas was asked how much the ISL and Asia differ. “Logically, they are two different competitions, but it’s football,” he said. He called Chennaiyin “a good team, good organisation and good players”, and said he was thinking about winning, not about how many his side might score.
He also stuck up for Edmund Lalrindika, who has not scored since the Churchill Brothers game. “It is not possible to score a goal every day,” Habas said. Aké Loba, who scored twice against Inter Kashi, has not started every game lately, but Habas said he has improved over the last month.
The last time in Chennai
East Bengal won 3-1 at this ground on 11 April, in the 2025-26 season that ended with their first ISL title. Chennaiyin have not scored since Yadwad’s goal against Goa four weeks ago. East Bengal are clear favourites. If they drop points tonight, it will say more about how tired they are after their trips in Asia than about anything Chennaiyin have shown so far.