BENGALURU: Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters are two popular sides in the Indian Super League and there is a huge sense of expectation from their fans. But their results in the seventh edition have not been satisfactory.
While Bengaluru, who lie seventh, have managed just 13 points from 11 games, Kerala have 10 from 11 and are in tenth position. So, when they meet one another at the GMC Stadium on Wednesday, both teams will be looking to revive their season in a bid to move up the table and increase their playoff chances.
In fact, the Blues have not been able to yield a positive result in the last five games. They have lost four and drawn one. Just to make things worse, influential midfielder Dimas Delgado, who holds a central place in the team, has returned to Spain due to a family emergency.
However, Bengaluru interim coach Naushad Moosa, who took over the job from Carles Cuadrat, will hope that his team's fortunes change after collecting a point in his two games in charge. He said that he has not made major changes in their playing style.
"We are not changing much in the way we are playing. But what we are asking the players now is to keep the ball more, instead of playing those long balls. So the two things are to keep the ball when you have it and be compact when you lose it. Simple information. So not many changes. But now with Dimas gone, we will have to get a new player and we need to see how much time that player will take," said Moosa.
More importantly, their attacking players, including Sunil Chhetri, Cleiton Silva and Kristian Opseth have to be on top of their game. Goals have been a problem for Bengaluru, but with Kerala having conceded the most number of goals this season so far (20), it will give Chhetri and co the confidence. In their last head-to-head encounter, Bengaluru scored four while Kerala managed two.
With Kerala defender Bakary Kone not featuring in the last two games due to a knock, it remains to be seen if he will be included for Wednesday's encounter. If included, it will boost their backline. However, Kerala are a more confident unit compared to their rivals ahead of this encounter. They have collected impressive wins over Hyderabad and Jamshedpur in their last five matches, which also included a draw over East Bengal.
"The team, I think, is performing better. We have to keep going, work better and harder every day and the team is going to be much better," said Kerala coach Kibu Vicuna.
Kerala will once again look for a good show from Jordan Murray, who has been their best player in front of goal with six strikes against his name. But the likes of Gary Hooper, who has just scored two goals, need to up their game and find the back of the net more often.