ISL: Delhi Dynamos vs FC Pune City - What we can expect – Preview and Prediction

ISL's radar will shift towards the north on day 3 of this tournament when Delhi Dynamos will lock antlers with F.C Pune City. The first home game for capital side could potentially see a face off between old Juventus teammates in the form of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet and they will aim to invigorate the football-drought stricken Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi.

Venue

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

With a capacity of sixty thousand, the historic venue has been hosting a lot of national and international sports events since its inception in 1982 to host the Asian Games. The newly laid out lush green pitch is on the narrower sides of the permissible pitch dimensions according to international standards set by FIFA. Most non-VIP areas in the whole of the stadium consist of bucket seats and this could be the first time when the fans won't need newspapers to ward off the dust and cut through cobwebs!

Kick-off – October 14, 2014: 7 PM (IST)

Possible starting line ups

Delhi Dynamos (4-2-3-1): Kristof Van Hout; Naoba Singh, Wim Raymaekers, Robert Lalthlamuana, Pavel Elias, Bruno Herrero Arias, Francis Fernandez, Shylo, Alessandro Del Piero, Mads Junker

Harm Van Veldhoven has already stated his desire for a wider pitch but will have to do with whatever's available. He's likely to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation. The 6ft 10 inch Belgian custodian, Van Hout, will be guarding the posts. East Bengal full backs - Robert and Naoba, accompanied by the decently experienced Raymaekers and Anwar Ali in the Centre back roles, will shape the back four.

The centre of the midfield will comprise of Hans Mulder and one more foreigner in the name of Pavel Elias or Bruno Herrero . Hans, the Dutch-Spanish powerhouse will likely be the more defensive of the two men deployed in the middle of the park.Shylo(right) and Francis Fernandez(left) will be the two pacey wingers with Steven Dias also in the contention for the right winger spot. Italian superstar, Del Piero, will be operating behind the Danish striker, Junker.

Former Juventus team-mates Del Piero and David Trezeguet will be opponents tonight

FC Pune City (3-5-2): Arindam Bhattacharya; Bruno Cirillo, Andres Gonzalez, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Paritosh Mehta, Manish Maithani, Konstantinos Katsouranis, Lenny Rodrigues, Saidou, David Trezeguet, Dudu Omagbemi

It will be interesting to see whether Franco Colomba will play a formation with a 3 man or a 4 man defence. Considering this to be an away game against a team with a lethal strike force, a defensive 3-5-2. The goalkeeping duties could go to Arindam Bhattacharya as the unavailability of Abranches and a foreign replacement for him will mean that an extra Indian has to be in the starting 11 for another position .

The choice of the back 3 will be interesting keeping in mind the Indian-to-foreigner ratio, which is required to be maintained.Bruno Cirilo,Dharmaraj Ravanan and Andres Gonzalez will be filling the Centre backs' slot. Ashutosh Mehta could get his chance in this one as the right wing back and the 23-year-old will look to get some more exposure. 30-year-old Burkina Faso international, SaIdou Panandetiguiri, will get the nod at left wing back.

Lenny Rodriguez's place looks prominent along with the same of the Greek veteran- Konstantinos Katsouranis. Manish Maithani could be the third one. The highly decorated Frenchman, David Trezeguet will start up front with the East Bengal striker- Dudu.

Delhi Dynamos vs FC Pune City – Likely formations

Key facts and stats

• David Trezeguet and Del Piero have faced each other in two of the biggest international matches in the last 14 years. In the Euro 2000 final, the former scored a golden goal in the Extra time to clinch the title with France while he missed the decisive penalty in the 2006 WC final shootout and Italy were crowned world champions.
• It is highly likely that the only player from Delhi in the DDFC side, may not feature in this or any of the matches. 3 out of the 5 Indians that could start for DDFC- play in East Bengal and their team chemistry is very well established.
• Both the Delhi Dynamos and Pune City F.C have had their friendlies behind closed doors because of some reason and only allowed the media to witness the first 15 minutes of their training session.

Key Battles

Trezeguet vs Wim Raymaekers

In a match which seems like a high scoring one, this is set out to be a crucial one-on-one situation. Even though, Harm mentioned that his team doesn't have a specific plan to control the French striker, he would make sure that he has his best defender to take care of it all in the critical zones, at least.

Junker vs Bruno Cirilo

Interestingly enough, this battle could determine the space given to Del Piero who will be linking the Dane to the midfield.

Prediction

Delhi Dynamos 1-1 FC Pune City