East Bengal FC take on Kerala Blasters FC in the second fixture of Matchweek 18 of the Hero Indian Super League on Friday (February 3) at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. East Bengal have been in poor form, losing all four of their games in January, and are coming off a 4-2 defeat to FC Goa. The Blasters, meanwhile, have had a mixed bag in January, winning and losing two games apiece. Their most recent result was a 2-0 win over NorthEast United FC.
Kerala Blasters hold the psychological edge on head-to-head record, whereas there can be no comparison between the two teams in terms of the current form. Hence, we have predicted the Tuskers to have a comfortable victory in this match.
The head-to-head records are inclined in favour of Kerala Blasters. The Tuskers have won two of the previous five league meetings against East Bengal, while the other three matches ended in stalemates – meaning the Torchbearers have never emerged victorious.
The previous meeting, which happened to be the very first match of the season, ended in a 3-1 win for the Tuskers. An Ivan Kalyuzhnyi brace and an Adrian Luna wonder strike comprised the three goals scored by Vukomanovic’s side, while among Constantine’s men, Alex Lima was the lone goal-scorer.
This match will start from 7:30 pm
This match will take place on 3 February 2023
New English strike Jake Jervis could make his debut for East Bengal
After a disappointing 2-4 defeat against Goa, Constantine is expected to make quite a few changes to his starting XI. One of them will be a forced change, as promising centre-back Lalchungnunga will be unavailable as he needs to serve a one-game suspension after picking up four yellow cards.
He could be replaced by Sarthak Golui, while on the opposite flank, Jerry Lalrinzuala could make way for Tuhin Das. New signing Jake Jervis could feature up front alongside Cleiton Silva at Sumeet Passi’s expense. Still, in such a scenario, the English tactician will have to balance the overseas count by dropping Charalampos Kyriakou for Athul Unnikrishnan.
Similarly, Vukomanovic is also expected to make changes to his team, though his side won their last match 2-0 against NorthEast United. The new signing from Bengaluru, Danish Farooq is expected to feature in midfield alongside Jeakson Singh.
Luna could hence be switched back to his usual position on the left flank, with Bryce Miranda dropping to the bench. Besides that, Rahul KP also did not look too convincing against the Highlanders and he could make way for Sahal Abdul Samad.
Kamaljit Singh, Sarthak Golui, Ivan Gonzalez, Lalchungnunga, Jerry Lalrinzuala, VP Suhair, Jordan O’Doherty, Mobashir Rahman, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Jake Jarvis, Cleiton Silva
Karanjit Singh, Harmanjot Khabra, Ruivah Hormipam, Victor Mongil, Jessel Carneiro, Rahul KP, Jeakson Singh, Bryce Miranda, Adrian Luna, Apostolos Giannou, Dimitrios Diamantakos
Kerala Blasters FC bounced back from two losses in a row with a 2-0 victory over NorthEast United FC last week. Dimitrios Diamantakos bagged a brace last week and increased his goal tally of the season to nine goals in 15 games. The Greek striker is only one behind the Hero ISL’s top scorer, Iker Guarrrotxena.
East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters’s head to head record shows that of the 5 meetings they’ve had, East Bengal has won 0 times and Kerala Blasters has won 2 times. 3 fixtures between East Bengal and Kerala Blasters has ended in a draw.
StarSports and StarSports HD TV channels will live broadcast the games in India.
East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters a great match to watch, East Bengal will win.