Kerala and East Bengal lock horns on Sunday night in Indian Football League 2020-21 to find the first victory of the season. Both sides haven’t lost a single game yet and sitting in the bottom three.
Match Timings: Dec 20, 7:30 PM IST
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Sunday night will witness the game of pride when Kerala and East Bengal will face each other in GMC Stadium. There is a tiny difference between the current form of both sides. Kerala are a two-times runner-up of the season and Bengal are one of the biggest football clubs in India.
The debut season for I-League giants has been a nightmare with some close defeats and some poor show on the field. They have improved the game but they are still not finding its first victory in Indian Football League. In the previous game, they suffered a 3-2 loss against Hyderabad after taking an early lead in the first half. Maghoma struck in the 26th minute and Hyderabad lost few opportunities to find a equaliser. In the second half, Nizams bounced back and broke the deadlock of East Bengal. Santana scored a brace to give Hyderabad the lead in the 55th minute. Halicharan Narzary scored the third through a brilliant pass from the substitute Liston Colaco. Maghoma completed his brace with another strike in the 82nd minute but it wasn’t enough to avoid the fourth defeat of the season for Bengal. Despite scoring the goal in the first half, Nikhil Poojary wasn’t at his best. Debjit Majumder saved Santana’s penalty and he had a decent outing.
Bengal are lacking in all departments and they are missing proper wingers in the squad. Robbie Fowler’s approach has been better but he didn’t figure out the balance between attack and defense. Narayan Das and Mohammad Rafique as the wing-backs have been average. Scott Neville also struggled in his role. If Bengal wants to decode its errors, they have to deliver improvements in the Indian contingent.
Meanwhile, Kerala lost to Bengaluru 4-2 in Fatorda and it was a great game of Football. Similar to East Bengal, Kerala suffered damage in the second half and they made easy mistakes to give Blues a chance to dominate them. Rahul Kannoly started the scoring for Kerala in the 17th minute but they allowed Bengaluru to equalise with a misjudgment of the long pass. In the second half, Kerala’s defense were pretty average and the Blues earned a 3-1 lead within five minutes. Jordan Murray struck a consolation goal for Kerala. Sunil Chhetri scored a fine goal through a header in the 65th minute to script the game for the Blues.
They could have avoided this defeat or the scoreline would have been 2-1 in favor of Kerala. Lalruatthara’s error in the first half gave chance to Bengaluru and they finished the first half on 1-1. Goalkeeper Albino Gomes could have saved the third goal in the second half. Kibu Vicuna made four changes in the previous game and changes are expected in this game too. It shows that Vicuna is not assured about the perfect XI.
Costa Nhamoinesu would be back in the starting line after serving the suspension in the previous match. Lalruatthara and Prasanth earned the call in starting lineups and involved in conceding two goals. They can come back but first, they have to focus on real issues.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Kerala
Lineup: Albino Gomes (GK), Bakary Kone, Nishu Kumar, Lalruatthara, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Jeakson Singh, Rahul KP, Vicente Gomez, Jordan Murray, Facundo Pereyra, Gary Hooper
Current Form: LL DD L
Previous outing – 4-2 loss against Bengaluru
East Bengal
Lineup: Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Sehnaj Singh, Mohammed Irshad, Narayan Das; Anthony Pilkington, Mohammed Rafique, Matti Steinmann, Jacques Maghoma; CK Vineeth, Jeje Lalpekhlua
Current Form: L D L L L
Previous outing – 3-2 loss against Hyderabad
Key Players
Kerala
Gary Hooper
2 goals in pre-season
1 goal in Indian Football League 2020-21
Vicente Gomez
1 goal in Indian Football League 2020-21
East Bengal
Anthony Pilkington
2 goals in pre-season 2020
Jacques Maghoma
2 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
