ISL 2023-24: Kerala Blasters vs East Bengal: Preview, Predicted lineup, injury news, H2H, telecast details

Kerala Blasters will aim to rejuvenate their ISL campaign with a big win over East Bengal.

Kerala Blasters will hope to secure qualification into the 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) playoffs when they host East Bengal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on Wednesday (April 3).

A win should be enough to help the Tuskers qualify for the playoffs, but they face a desperate Red & Gold Brigade who are in an absolute need of win(s) to keep their own hopes of qualifying for the playoffs alive.

The Stakes

Kerala Blasters

Having just won one of their seven games in the second leg of the ISL 2023-24, Kerala Blasters desperately need a big win to rejuvenate their confidence levels. In East Bengal, they face a team who have undergone their share of struggles in the ISL this season.

Ivan Vukomanovic’s side has to repay the faith of their loyal fans in what could be their final home match of the season. Kerala Blasters have to tap into their most ruthless nature to oust this stringent East Bengal side and have to treat this game as a big deal if they are to produce a dominant enough performance that can warrant a big win.

East Bengal

For East Bengal, all the remaining four league stage matches have to be counted as finals. They still have a shot at securing that sixth place and qualifying for the ISL playoffs for the first time ever. But for that, they need to win all of their remaining games.

East Bengal produced a solid fight to the Blasters in their match earlier this season, but need to pick up their performance levels even more to get a win in this difficult environment. Carles Cuadrat has to set up his side to be at their most stubborn selves defensively and cause Kerala Blasters to make errors, which they must pounce upon to get a big away win and keep moving towards that playoff spot.

Injury & Team News

Kerala Blasters are still without Adrian Luna and Sachin Suresh. Moreover, defender Milos Drincic is going to be suspended for this game and Marko Leskovic has been given rest. East Bengal recently confirmed that Nandhakumar Sekar will be out for the rest of the season.

Head-to-Head

Total Matches Played – 7

East Bengal Wins – 1

Kerala Blasters Wins – 3

Draws – 3

Predicted Lineups

Kerala Blasters (4-4-2)

Karanjit Singh (GK), Sandeep Singh, Hormipam Ruivah, Pritam Kotal, Naocha Singh, Rahul KP, Vibin Mohanan, Danish Farooq, Daisuke Sakai, Fedor Cernych, Dimitrios Diamantakos

East Bengal (4-2-3-1)

Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Mohamad Rakip, Aleksandar Pantic, Hijazi Maher, Nishu Kumar, Souvik Chakrabarti, Shyamal Besra, Saul Crespo, Naorem Mahesh Singh, PV Vishnu, Cleiton Silva

Players to Watch

Fedor Cernych (Kerala Blasters)

After recently earning a call-up to the Lithuania national team, Fedor Cernych is flying high on confidence and is desperate to have a thrilling end to the season for the Blasters. He has only been able to contribute two goals (one goal, one assist) in seven ISL appearances so far, a record he’d like to improve.

Fedor is blessed with pace and can make darting runs from the left wing into more promising central areas. He’ll look to use his trickery to unlock the East Bengal backline and create chances for his teammates with his smart delivery. Fedor will also be intent on moving into more promising goal-scoring areas to improve his goal contributions and help his side put on a thrilling performance in front of their home fans.

Naorem Mahesh Singh (East Bengal)

Naorem Mahesh Singh’s performances have slightly dipped after the AFC Asian Cup. He hasn’t contributed to any goal in the ISL matches since that 5-0 thrashing of NorthEast United in early December 2023. The winger has to rediscover that special spark in his game and bring out the very best to guide East Bengal to a strong finish to the season.

He needs to be smarter with his movement in tight spaces in the final third and ensure that his crosses, set-pieces or final-third passes are spot on. He has to be more innovative and unpredictable with his final delivery and take more risks to rediscover his magic and torment the Kerala Blasters backline in their own yard.

Did you know?

• Kerala Blasters’ Dimitrios Diamantakos is currently the leading goal-scorer in the ISL with 13 goals.
• East Bengal have only won one away match in the entirety of the 2023-24 ISL season, which came against Hyderabad FC.
• Kerala Blasters have won six of their 10 home matches in the ISL league stages so far this season.

Telecast

The Kerala Blasters vs East Bengal game kicks off at 07:30 PM (IST), at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on April 3, 2024. The live telecast will be available on the Sports18 Network (Sports18 1/VH1 channel) and the live streaming of the game will be available on the JioCinema app. Viewers from abroad can use OneFootball to stream the game.

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