India begins their South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Suzuki Cup 2015 campaign with a game against neighbours Sri Lanka at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Kerala on 25 December 2015. India are in Group A with Sri Lanka and Nepal, with two teams qualifying for the next round from the group.
Despite enjoying home advantage, India will not have it easy against a Sri Lankan side that has already beaten Nepal in this competition. They earned plenty of plaudits for an effective counter-attacking style of play.
After a series of five straight losses in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, India finally registered a win against Guam recently, despite playing an hour with 10 men. The win pushed India to 166 in the FIFA rankings, 28 places above their opponents Sri Lanka on Friday.
Kick-off & Telecast
Date and Time – 25 December 2015 – 18:30 IST
Venue – Trivandrum International Stadium, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Live Telecast – Star Sports 4, Star Sports HD4 and Doordarshan (in India)
Team News
India: Stephan Constantine released four players from the Indian camp due to injury concerns, which includes Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Cavin Lobo and Seityasen Singh. The English Coach revealed Jhingan and Lobo could have been involved, but with a risk of them being missing up to six months. It was a risk which Constantine rightly decided against taking and released them from the camp.
Constantine, however, was miffed with the late arrival of players into the camp that has clearly affected his side’s preparations going into the game against Sri Lanka on Friday. Nine Bengaluru FC players, which include skipper Sunil Chhetri, striker Robin Singh and the AIFF Player of the Season Eugensen Lyngdoh, were released late for the camp after the club felt their players needed some rest after a busy domestic schedule.
With plenty of youngsters that include some fresh faces at his disposal, Stephan Constantine might be tempted to test them out.
Sri Lanka: It will be interesting to see if the Sri Lankan coach Sampath Pereira rotates his team that emerged triumphant against Nepal on Wednesday against the clash with India which falls just 48 hours after their game against Nepal. But it is likely that he will like to keep the winning combination intact and start with almost the same XI that started against Nepal.
Probable Starting Lineups
India (4-4-2): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Pritam Kotal, Arnab Mondal, Augustine Fernandes, Narayan Das, Rowlin Borges, Pronoy Halder, Eugenson Lyngdoh, Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Robin Singh
Sri Lanka (3-5-2): Weerasinghe Sujan Perera (GK), W Hettiarchchi, Mohammed Hakim, K Wijesiri, C Sajith Kumara, Z Zarwan, D De Silva, R Nalaka, M Rifnas, C Chameera, L Kavindu Ishan
Key Battles
Sunil Chhetri vs RA Nalaka
Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri will be the biggest threat to the Sri Lankans irrespective of the position he starts at. Chhetri is likely to start on the left flank and will be a huge threat cutting in on his favoured right-hand side. In the battle of the two skippers, midfielder Nalaka will have to keep an eye on Chhetri’s movements and track his runs.
It will be extremely crucial for Sri Lanka to keep an eye on Chhetri, keeping in mind his creative vision and also an eye for goal. Nalaka will be tasked with nullifying Chhetri’s threat and it promises to be a great battle.
Kavindu Ishan vs Narayan Das
Kavindu Ishan, like Sunil Chhetri, is Sri Lanka’s most creative player and will be operating on the right flank against Narayan Das. The left back, who has pretty much made the position his own in recent games, will have his task cut out.
Ishan has the habit of drifting inside into small pockets of space behind the midfield. Das will have to avoid the temptation of getting sucked in and leaving a hole on the left side of the Indian defence.
Prediction
India will be feeling much better about themselves after their win against Guam and will be well supported by a huge crowd that is expected to turn out in Kerala. In addition, the Indians will be fresher compared to the Sri Lankans who gave it their all in their 1-0 win over Nepal just two days ago. So the situation is perfect for the Indians to record a victory against a team ranked 28 places below them.
Predicted Scoreline: India 2-0 Sri Lanka
