Durand Cup 2023: Hyderabad FC aim glory against Chennaiyin FC

Hyderabad FC drew their first Durand Cup 2023 game.

Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic stadium is set to witness the first of the southern derbies of the 132nd IndianOil Durand Cup, when Hyderabad FC take on Chennaiyin FC on Thursday, August 10, 2023.

Following that, Punjab FC and the Bangladesh Army Football Team go head-to-head at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), in search of their first win in the tournament. The Group E game in Guwahati begins at 3.00pm Indian Standard Time (IST) while the Group A battle has an evening kick-off scheduled at 6.00pm IST.

The match between Hyderabad FC and Chennaiyin FC will be the first of a few southern derbies lined up in the group stages of the 132nd IndianOil Durand Cup. While Hyderabad earned a 1-1 draw in their first game against Delhi FC, Chennaiyin will be playing their first game.

In that respect, Hyderabad will be the side more into the game, but Chennaiyin have named a balanced and strong 21-member squad which includes Australian striker Jordan Murray and will be keen to begin with a win.

Owen Coyle, the Chennayin gaffer said ahead of the game, “It gives us an opportunity to get to know the players and some rhythm under our belt. It’ll be a different competition for us because we’ve obviously not fully assembled our squad fully yet in terms of foreign recruits. But it’s a great competition to go and play very competitive games.”

The five forwards named in the Marina Machans’ squad which besides Murray, includes Indian team striker Rahim Ali, Vincy Barretto and Farukh Choudhary, clearly reveals intent and the style of play they will adopt.

On evidence of the first game, the Thangboi Singto’s Hyderabad side, sans any foreign recruits of course, will have to pull their game up a notch, to get a positive result.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.