Jamshedpur vs Bengaluru: Preview and Prediction
Jamshedpur and Bengaluru will cross swords in ‘Match 36’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season at the Athletic Stadium on Monday. After narrowly missing out on a playoff spot for two consecutive seasons, Jamshedpur is looking to leave no stone unturned this time around.
With three wins, a couple of draws, and only a solitary defeat, the Red Miners are placed at the third position in the standings. On the other hand, 2018/19 ISL champions Bengaluru are having a horrendous campaign as Marco Pezzaiouli’s team is struggling in the tenth position having won only one of their seven matches.
How have they done so far?
Jamshedpur started with a 1-1 stalemate against East Bengal but caught many by surprise when they pipped last season’s semi-finalists Goa by a 3-1 margin in their second match. Hyderabad managed to restrict them to another draw, but Owen Coyle’s men bounced back for the second time by beating title favorites ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1.
The only match so far where the Red Miners looked out of their depth was the outing against reigning champions Mumbai City where they suffered a 4-2 defeat. However, Coyle’s men have taken no time to get back to winning ways handing Odisha a convincing 4-0 thrashing in their last match.
Bengaluru had a positive start to their campaign as they defeated NorthEast United 4-2 in their campaign opener but things have gone terribly downhill ever since. They lost their second match against Odisha and could only salvage a point against Kerala Blasters.
The Southern Derby draw was followed by a streak of three consecutive defeats against Mumbai City, Hyderabad, and arch-rivals Goa. Having said that, a fighting 3-3 draw against ATK Mohun Bagan in their last game should have done their confidence a world of good.
Head to Head Record
Bengaluru has been the more successful team of the two in terms of trophies but Jamshedpur holds the edge when it comes to head-to-head records. They have beaten the Blues four times, while Bengaluru has got the better of the Red Miners on only two occasions, with two matches ending in draws.
The first meeting of last season ended 1-0 in Jamshedpur’s favor where former central defender Stephen Eze scored a late winner. The Nigerian was on the scoresheet in the return leg as well, when Jamshedpur registered a 3-2 triumph.
Team News
Pratik Chaudhuri could be handed a starting XI role
A manager usually does not make changes to a team that won 4-0 in their previous encounter but a closer inspection will tell us that Jamshedpur does have room for improvement in a few areas.
Alex Lima did not have the best of matches in central midfield against Odisha and was replaced by Pronay Halder at half-time. The veteran Indian could be handed a start in this game and by doing so, the former Blackburn Rovers manager can play an extra overseas attacker in Jordan Murray dropping Seimenlen Doungel to the bench.
Pezzaiouli’s bold decision to bench both Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh against the Mariners paid dividends as his new-look front three looked menacing.
However, the issues in defense are persistent and glaring as Ajith Kumar did not look convincing in his left-back role as he completed only 10 passes and had a total of 44 touches of the ball. The former 1899 Hoffenheim manager could replace him with the more experienced Pratik Chaudhari.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Jamshedpur (4-2-3-1): TP Rehenesh; Laldinliana Renthlei, Narender Gehlot, Peter Hartley, Ricky Lallawmawma; Jitendra Singh, Pronay Halder; Jordan Murray, Greg Stewart, Komal Thatal; Nerijus Valskis.
Bengaluru (4-3-3): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Roshan Naorem, Parag Shrivas, Alan Costa, Pratik Chaudhuri; Danish Farooq, Bruno Ramires, Jayesh Rane; Prince Ibara, Cleiton Silva, Ashique Kuruniyan.
Prediction
Even in their glorious days, Bengaluru often struggled to produce the desired result against Jamshedpur and the present run of form is also inclined in the Red Miners’ favor. Hence, we have predicted a 3-1 win for Jamshedpur.