The ongoing India Football League (IFL) has kept the fans glued to their seats as the back-to-back matches between football giants are riveting. The 40th match of the tournament is scheduled on 18th December 2019 at 7:30 (IST) at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. Despite the unrest in Guwahati, the IFL clash between NorthEast United FC and Bengaluru FC will take place behind closed doors. This is the first time in ISL's history that a match will be played behind closed doors. This decision is taken by Football Sports Development Ltd. due to the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Guwahati was under curfew. Now, the curfew is relaxed and people have rolled back to their normal lives. However, peaceful protests are still going on. Therefore, we are likely to observe an earlier kick-off time, owing to the curfew times in Guwahati.
Coming back to the tournament, this match marks the eighth confrontation between the two sides in this IFL season, with the Blues having an edge over Highlanders. Bengaluru FC aims to return to their winning ways, after a deflating home defeat against Mumbai City FC on Sunday as the champions lacked rhythm.
Whereas NorthEast United have not played since their 3-0 loss to ATK on Dec 7 in Guwahati because their last match against Chennaiyin FC was postponed due to the chaos in Assam. NorthEast will be in dire straits if Ghanian star forward Asamoah Gyan is unfit and unavailable.
On the other hand, Bengaluru FC likely to make a few changes in their squad. Ashique Kuruniyan is expected to be replaced by Eugeneson Lyngdoh. Rahul Bheke will make his comeback to the starting XI, with Sunil Chhetri on the left wing and Raphael Augusto as the central striker.
Head to Head
|
Teams |
Total Matches Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Total Points |
Rank |
|
NorthEast United |
7 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
5th |
|
Bengaluru FC |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
3rd |
Probable Lineups
NorthEast United FC: Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Reagan Singh, Kai Heerings, Wayne Vaz, Rakesh Pradhan, Jose Leudo, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Redeem Tlang, Martin Chaves, Panagiotis Triadis, Maxi Barreiro
Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Juanan Gonzalez, Nishu Kumar, Dimas Delgado, Erik Paartalu, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Raphael Augusto, Udanta Singh Sunil Chhetri
Also Read: BAYERN MUNICH’S SARPREET SINGH BECOMES THE FIRST INDIAN-ORIGIN PLAYER TO ENTER BUNDESLIGA
Key Players
NorthEast United FC
Maxi Barreiro
Martin Chaves
Bengaluru FC
Sunil Chhetri
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
