Kerala and Chennai start the match week three with the Sunday night encounter in Indian Football League 2020-21. Kerala shared the spoils with North East in the last outing, following a defeat against Mohun B. while Chennai started the campaign with a 2-1 victory over Jamshedpur.
Match Timings: Nov 29, 7:30 PM (IST)
Team Preview
Matchweek three begins, and Kerala is yet to find a victory after two matches against Mohun B. and North East. Two-times runner up lost its opening encounter against Mohun B. as Roy Krishna netted a winner in the second half. Kibu Vicuña’s men looked more dominating in its second game with North East. Sergio Cidoncha scored the opening goal in the 5th minute, and Hopper made it 2-0 with a penalty strike in stoppage-time. The second half started with North East’s active approach, and the last game’s scorer Appiah scored the goal in the 51st minute. Kerala held North East with a tight defense, and Vicuna made some changes to restrict the opponent's forwards. In the final minute, Idrissa Sylla scored an equaliser to spoil Kerala’s party and find the place on the top spot.
Vicuna was the head coach of Mohun B. in the I-League and led the side to win the title, including the Derby win against East Bengal. He can look back at the bench and can get I-League player ’Givson Singhwas’ in the lineup. The Yellow Army had more possession and better pass accuracy in both games, but they notched up just one point from the first two weeks. Gary Hopper is Kerala’s big man, but he needs support from another end to crack opportunities into the goals. He scored two goals in the pre-season, followed by a debut goal in the previous outing.
Meanwhile, 2019-20’s silverware winners Chennai off to a good start by defeating Jamshedpur 2-1 in Tilak Maidan. The double first-half strikes from Anirudh Thapa and Goncalves refused the only goal from Valskis to script a comfortable win on Tuesday. The Blues is now under Csaba Laszlo, who replaced last season’s manager Coyelo. With the young Indian talents, Chennai looks like a formidable unit this season. Lalchhuanmawia at left-back and Reagan Singh at right-back will push Chennai’s hopes higher.
Chennai had the upper hand against Kerala in Indian Football League, winning six out of eleven meetings, including five draws. In the last edition, Chennai defeated the Yellow Outfit twice, scoring nine goals and conceding only four. In February this year, the most recent meeting witnessed six goals from Chennai to register the biggest victory between the two sides.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Chennai
Vishal Kaith; Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia, Sipovic, Lalrinzuala; Sydney Vanspaul, Thapa; Goncalves, Crivellaro, Chhangte; Sylvestr
Pre-season Form: L L W
Previous outing: 2-1 victory over Jamshedpur
Kerala
Lineup: Albino, Costa, Kone, Jessel, Prashant, Sahal, Cidoncha, Vicente, Ritwik, Nong, Hooper
Current Form: D L
Previous match: 2-2 draw with North East
Key Players
Chennai
Lallianzuala Chhangte
7 goals in Indian Football League 2019-20
Anirudh Thapa
1 goal & 6 assists in Indian Football League 2019-20
1 goal in Indian Football League 2020-21
Kerala
Gary Hooper
2 goals in pre-season
1 goal in Indian Football League 2020-21
Sergio Cidoncha
1 goal in Indian Football League 2020-21
