India takes on Nepal in their second game in Group A of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Suzuki Cup 2015 as the Blue Tigers look to seal their passage through to the semi-finals of the competition. A point will be enough for India to qualify for the semi-finals as group winners while Nepal will have to beat the Indians to have any chance of making it to the last four after falling to a defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening encounter.
However, Indian Head Coach Stephan Constantine isn’t taking Nepal lightly and has termed them as a ‘tricky’ opponent ahead of the game. Recent games between the two sides suggest Constantine is right in being wary of Nepal who have lost only twice to India in their last five games, with the last two games between the two sides ending in goalless draws.
Kick-off Timing, Venue and Telecast Details
Kick-off Timing – 6:30 PM IST
Date: 27 December, 2015
Venue – Trivandrum International Stadium, Kerala
Live Telecast – Star Sports 4 & HD4
Team News
India
Stephan Constantine has revealed that Robin Singh is likely to feature in the game after X-Rays of his leg showed that there was nothing too serious. But with just 48 hours of recovery for his players, most of which have just come off a tiring ISL Season, could force the English Coach to make changes to his line-up for the game against Nepal.
PronoyHalder, Narayan Das and JejeLalpekhlua were among the players who were involved till the very last stages of the ISL, could be given a rest by Constantine with Rowlin Borges replacing Halder in midfield and LalchhuanmawiaFanai coming in for Das at left back. Robin Singh’s injury could see JejeLalpekhlua continue in the striker’s role for the Blue Tigers.
Nepal
RanjitDhimal (Right-Back) and JagajitShreshtha (Midfield) are set to come into the Nepal side for the game against India after impressing in their previous performances. Otherwise, Coach Patrick Aussems is likely to go with the same set of players which started against Sri Lanka
Predicted starting XI
India(4-2-3-1): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal, Augustine Fernandes, Arnab Mondal, Narayan Das, Eugenson Lyngdoh, Rowlin Borges, Sanju Pradhan, Sunil Chhetri, Bikash Jairu, Jeje Lalpekhlua
Nepal(4-3-3): Kiran Chemjong; Jitendra Karki, Aditya Chaudhary, Biraj Mahajan, Ranjit Dhimal; Jagajeet Shrestha, Rohit Chand, Herman Gurung; AnjanBista, Anil Gurung, Bimal Magar.
Key Facts
- Nepal have failed to score in the last four games against India in all competitions.
- Nepal’s last goal against India came in 2013 in a 2-1 friendly game win over India.
- India are yet to concede a goal against Nepal on home soil in its 30 year-long rivalry against their neighbours.
Key Battles
Sunil Chhetri vs Rohit Chand
With Sunil Chhetri likely to take up a more central role in Robin Singh’s possible absence from the starting eleven, Chhetri will be a major goal threat for the Nepalese. But he will be up against the highly talented Rohit Chand in midfield, who will have the task of stifling Chhetri.
Rohit Chand has great experience playing for Persija Jakarta side in the Indonesian League, will be looking to bring all that into play against Sunil Chhetri. It promises to be a really intriguing battle between two talismanic figures in the two sides.
Biman Magar vs Augustine Fernandes
Bimal Magar is one of the most highly rated players in South Asian Football and the 17-year-old is a great prospect. Magar has had trials with top European clubs like Anderlecht and is also Nepal’s youngest goal scorers. Magar was a bright spot in the Nepal side against Sri Lanka and is expected to test Augustine Fernandes who too is trying to find his feet at the International stage.
Augustine Fernandes had a solid game at the back against Sri Lanka and was particularly impressive in the recently concluded ISL season, playing for Atletico de Kolkata. The battle between these two rookies at the International level could go a long way in deciding the outcome of the game.
Prediction
India 1-0 Nepal
India will find it difficult against a much improved Nepal side who were slightly unfortunate to lose to Sri Lanka in the first game. Facing a do or die situation, Nepal will come hard at India and it will be difficult for the Indians to put in a good performance just 48 hours after playing Sri Lanka. But Nepal’s dismal home record on Indian soil could just see India nicking it by the odd goal.
