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ISL gets back to the ‘God’s Own Country’ when Kerala Blasters host Mumbai City FC at Kochi on Friday evening. An exciting match can be expected when David James and Co meet Jorge Costa's boys.
Kerala Blasters are coming home after a 2-0 victory over ATK, while Mumbai City FC left home after a lose to Jamshedpur FC on the same margin.
Match Information
Date: 5 October
Kickoff: 7:30 PM IST
Live Stream: Star Sports Channels and hotstar.com
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi
Team News
Kerala Blasters:
Kerala Blasters are coming home after a spectacular away win. The season opener saw Blasters pull out an above average display of teamwork with both their overseas strikers finding the back of the net. The coach would be very much pleased with an unchanged lineup.
Dheeraj Singh did a decent work for an 18-year old debutant, although he went nervously on a couple of occasions. Hence, no changes are expected between the sticks. The defense lineup did a decent work keeping a clean sheet. Sandesh Jhingan and Lakis Pesic found the good old combination with Lalruatthara and Mohammed Rakip at support.
Any changes David James brings in will be in the midfield. Nikola Krcmarevic and Holicharan Narzary are expected to start the games, but doubts exist on Sahal Samad and Seiminlen Doungel, with Pekuson and Vineeth waiting on the bench.
Slavisla Stojanovic and Matej Poplatnik are sure to start the game after both found places on the scoresheet.
The players missing out will be Abdul Hakku, injured and Anas Edathodika out with a ban.
Mumbai City FC:
Mumbai City will be coming to Kochi to get a few points on the board. Atleast a draw would do good for them when playing in the middle of the ‘Yellow Sea’. Jorge Costa will certainly make some changes to get his team into the winning ways.
The goal will be guarded again by Amrinder Singh. The defense will most probably have Lucian Goian, Sauvik Chakraborty, Marko Klisura and Subhasish Bose. The coach might offer the 4 another chance to settle and defend, before making a change in a hurry.
Paulo Machado and Modou Sogou will make their presence in the midfield and Mohammed Rafique too will be given a start to make good use of the wings. With Bipin Singh too joining them, the change is expected to be Raynier Fernandes starting in place of Sanju Pradhan.
Rafael Bastos might be relied on for goals once again. However, it will turn out to be a tough fight for him to get past the Blasters defenders.
Probable Lineup:
Kerala Blasters (4-4-2) - Dheeraj, Rakip, Jhingan, Pesic, Lalruatthara, Vineeth, Pekuson, Krcmarevic, Narzary, Poplatnik, Stojanovic
Mumbai City FC (4-2-3-1) - Amrinder, Chakraborty, Goian, Klisura, Bose, Raynier, Bipin, Rafique, Sogou, Machado, Bastos
Key Players:
Kerala Blasters
Matej Poplatnik would be key at home for Blasters. His boots are again expected to bring home a victory for the men in yellow and the Slovenian holds a chance to be a hero for the Manjappada.
Mumbai City FC
Paulo Machado would again be the key striking force cor Mumbai City FC. The Blasters defenders will be put to a lot of work if Machado rises to the occasion. His set pieces should be carefully dealt by the Kerala custodian.
Predictions
A close match can be expected at Kochi in front of the exciting fans, which will give Blasters an upper hand and a winner prediction.
Predicted Score: 2-1
