East Bengal’s Ashim Biswas and Syed Rahim Nabi work out under coach Carlos Roberto Pereira da Silva on Wednesday, while (below) Douglas da Silva and Madhab Das of Mohammedan Sporting get ready for Thursday’s big match. Telegraph pictures

Calcutta: This is one match both teams would hate to lose. Given the acrimony and mud-slinging over player transfers that preceded the start of the Calcutta Football League (Premier Division) involving East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting, their first meeting was always going to be a high-voltage affair.

It has lived true to expectations and the Maidan is waiting with bated breath for Thursday’s outcome.

Mohammedan Sporting lead the Premier Division standings with 15 points from seven matches, while East Bengal are on 13 having played a match less. A win is sure to boost both teams on their way to clinching the title.

While East Bengal will rely on Brazilians Luiz Octavio da Souza and Marcio Fernandes Thomas — who will be making his debut — Mohammedan Sporting’s trumpcards are Douglas da Silva and Mike Okoro.

Red-and-golds’ coach Carlos Roberto Pereira da Silva, though, has his plans in place. He stressed on “zonal marking” for Okoro and also made it clear that Douglas will not be allowed to move around freely.

“We want to win this match… The ground conditions at the Salt Lake Stadium suit our style of play. Hopefully we can play true to expectations,” Pereira said on Wednesday.

The East Bengal coach is hoping that the arrival of Marcio will solve his team’s goal-scoring problems.

“Marcio is as sharp as Bhaichung Bhutia inside the penalty box. He is good in utilising aerial balls.” It is likely that Marcio will start with Ashim Biswas upfront.

Mohammedan Sporting coach Subhas Bhowmick is not treating this as a “grudge” match. The stress was on set-piece moves and situations during practice.

“This is a big match but there’s nothing special about it. I don’t intend turning the pages back and always look forward. We are an organised team and will try our best to gain full points.”

While praising counterpart Pereira, Bhowmick said he was not taking Marcio lightly. “He has not been played yet and an unknown player can always be dangerous.”

There is demand for tickets for the match. An IFA official said on Wednesday evening that 50,000 tickets had already been sold.