Kerala Blasters vs NorthEast United: Preview and Prediction

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The Blasters aiming to orchestrate a comeback

NorthEast United will be up against the familiar foes Kerala Blasters in the upcoming Group D fixture of Durand Cup 2022. The home team will take on the challenge of the Kochi-based club featuring a youth side in order to save themselves from elimination. Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium will be the host of the enthralling Match No. 6 between the Highlanders and Tuskers on Saturday. 

The first team of Kerala Blasters is currently unavailable for the Durand Cup due to the clash of schedules with their UAE tour and has fielded a reserve squad for the domestic competition. Manjappada has shown a cheerful response to their participating roster which features players who represented them at Premier League Next Gen Cup. After attaining a single point from the first two fixtures, Tomasz now must be looking forward to registering his first win of the campaign.

NorthEast is yet to register their first-ever Durand Cup victory after failing to grab any match points in the first two fixtures. The Highlander fans seemed furious after not spotting any renowned player in the matchday squad despite their presence at the camp as the club faced outrage from them on the social media handles. The NEU supporters have been divided into two groups, one is praising the management for entrusting the youth players while the other one is angry for not fielding a strengthened playing XI. 

Current Form

Kerala Blasters suffered their first win of this Durand Cup edition against Odisha FC in their previous fixture. The Juggernauts registered a 2-0 victory over the youth side of the Kochi-based outfit to reach the top of their group standings. Despite losing the fixture, boys in the yellow received high praises from pundits for putting up a brave fight against the team which scored six goals against NEUFC.  

Dipu Mirdha became the first NorthEast United player to score in Durand Cup

Dipu Mirdha became the first NorthEast United player to score in Durand Cup 

On the other hand, NorthEast United once again failed to open their match-points account at Asia’s oldest existing football tournament. The Highlanders were defeated by the Army Green at their home ground by 3-1 and gave another heartbreak to the NEUFC fans. The only goal from the red camp was scored by the 23-year-old Assamese forward Dipu Mirdha in the injury-time period, right before the final whistle. 

Head to Head record

Both of the combatants are part of the Indian Super League roster from its inception and have been squashing against each other since the inaugural seasons. The head-to-head record of this battle currently favours the Tuskers with six victories while their counterparts have emerged victorious four times. Six of the 14 encounters between them at the Indian top-flight league have ended with resultless outcomes. 

The most recent face-off between them happened in the league stage Match No. 84 at Tilak Maidan of Vasco da Gama where Manjappada proceeded to claim all three match points. Despite going down to 10 men in the 70th minute, the Tuskers still ended up taking it all on the scoreline of 2-1 at the full-time whistle. Kerala forwards Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Alvaro Vazquez bagged one each goal while the solitary goal from NEUF was scored by Mohamed Irshad in the 90th minute. 

When the last time NorthEast United hosted Kerala at their home turf of Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, the play ended in a goalless settlement. The Yellow Army has an impressive visit record at the IGA arena having won two and drawn one of their five ISL fixtures on this ground. The fans have witnessed some iconic moments in this rivalry, especially when Guwahati was the venue of the inaugural game of the 2016 ISL season and Katsumi Yusa scored the winning goal for the home team against the Blasters. 

Team News

The captain’s armband in the previous fixture was handed over to the Manipuri midfielder Muktasana Gotimayum Sharma who led the pride of seven sisters. Club’s U-18 & Reserve side coach Subam Rabha is still in charge of their Durand Cup campaign even after the arrival of first-team head coach Marco Balbul. 

There’s still no clearance about the prominent players like Mirshad, Mashoor Shereef, Tondonba Singh, Pragyan Gogoi, and Rochharzela who are part of the camp but still remained absent from both matchday squads.

Tomasz Tchorz aims to do wonders with youngsters

Tomasz Tchorz aims to do wonders with youngsters 

The Polish gaffer of KBFC, Tomasz Pawel Tchorz named the same Starting Eleven for both fixtures avoiding any changes. Considering the improvement they made against Odisha, it is speculated that Kerala will retain the same core while making a few changes for rotational purposes. 

The former ATK Mohun Bagan forward Subha Ghosh who made a substitute appearance in the opening fixture against Sudeva Delhi can be the first-choice replacement if Tchorz has thought of midfield rotation. 

Predicted Starting XIs

Kerala Blasters (4-2-2): Sachin Suresh; Marvaan Hussain, Tejas Krishna, Muhammed Basith, Aritra Das; Muhammed Azgar, Vibin Mahanan, Gaurav Kankonkar, Roshan Gigi; Muhammed Ajsal, Muhammed Aimen

NorthEast United (4-5-1): Nikhil Deka; Bishnu Rabha, Bimol Singh, Chiranjeet Gogoi Sampow Rongmei; Basanta Boro, Madhujya Bora, Muktasana Sharma, Dipu Mirdha, Denis Bodo; Alfred Lalruotsang

Prediction

It will be a neck-to-neck battle between NorthEast and Kerala as both combatants will be turning up with the developmental sides for this clash. Hence it is quite difficult to predict the winner of this contest however, Kerala stands with brighter chances owing to their brave display in this competition so far. 

It is the do-or-die fixture for NorthEast United whose ultimate aim in this game will be the prevention of their hat-trick of losses on home ground.