Chennaiyin will lock horns with Hyderabad in ‘Match 59’ of the 2021-22 season of the Indian Super League, which will be contested at the Fatorda Stadium on Thursday.
Chennaiyin registered only three wins last season but have transcended their records already, as Bozidar Bandovic’s men have won four of the ten matches they have played. The Marina Machans are currently occupying the sixth position in the league standings.
Similarly, Hyderabad also has had a decent campaign so far winning four and drawing as many of their ten encounters. With 16 points in their account, Manolo Marquez’s side is placed in the fourth position.
Current Form
Neither Chennaiyin nor Hyderabad has momentum on their side as both sides have lost their respective last fixtures. Bandovic’s team suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Goa in their previous outing.
They won the game before that against Jamshedpur 1-0, courtesy of Lukasz Giekiwicz’s goal. It was a crucial win for the Marina Machans as it provided them with some respite after a 4-2 drubbing against Bengaluru.
Like their opposition, Hyderabad too suffered a 1-0 loss in their last game, against Kerala Blasters. It was only the Nizams’ second defeat of the season, with the first defeat coming in their season opener against Chennaiyin itself.
Before facing the Tuskers, Marquez’s boys played out a 2-2 draw against ATK Mohun Bagan, while the match preceding that saw them handing Odisha a 6-1 thumping thanks to a Bartholomew Ogbeche brace.
Head to Head Record
Chennaiyin is slightly ahead on head-to-head records, as they have won three of the five encounters against Hyderabad, with the Nizams emerging victorious on a couple of occasions. Interestingly, these two sides are yet to play out a draw.
The first meeting of this season ended 1-0 in the Marina Machans’ favor where Vladimir Koman converted a penalty in the 66th minute of the match.
Team News
Sahil Tavora and Javi Siverio could be included in Hyderabad’s starting XI
Though he had a good game in the previous meeting against Hyderabad, Koman was almost non-existent in the last match against Goa and could be replaced by Giekiwicz provided Bandovic opts to switch his 3-5-2 formation.
A 3-4-1-2 set-up will allow him to field both Giekiwicz and Nerijus Valskis upfront, with Mirlan Murzaev operating from behind. Besides that, Germanpreet Singh is expected to replace Edwin Sydney Vanspaul in the middle of the park.
Hyderabad will miss their talisman Ogbeche in this match, as the Nigerian forward needs to serve a one-match suspension after picking up four yellow cards. Javi Siverio is expected to replace him up front.
Barring the forced change, Marquez could also make a couple of tactical tweaks. After a poor outing against Kerala Blasters, Hitesh Sharma could be replaced by Sahil Tavora while Rohit Danu is likely to be deployed on the right flank in Nikhil Poojary’s place.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Chennaiyin (3-4-1-2): Debjit Majumder; Mohd Sajid Dhot, Slavko Damjanovic, Narayan Das; Reagan Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Mirlan Murzaev; Nerijus Valskis, Lukasz Gikiewicz.
Hyderabad (4-2-3-1): Laxmikant Kattimani; Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Juanan, Akash Mishra; Joao Victor, Sahil Tavora; Rohit Danu, Edu Garcia, Aniket Jadhav; Javi Siverio.
Prediction
Head-to-head statistics are titled in Chennaiyin’s favour, while Hyderabad will miss their prime source of goals, Ogbeche in this match. Hence, we have predicted a 2-1 win for the Marina Machans.