Kalinga Super Cup 2025: Three key battles to watch out for in East Bengal FC vs Kerala Blasters FC

The Torchbearers are welcoming the Tuskers in their opening encounter on April 20.

East Bengal FC and Kerala Blasters FC are poised to kick off the Kalinga Super Cup 2025 edition at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Sunday (April 20, 2025). It will be a feisty game between the two Indian Super League (ISL) sides, as they aspire to ‘save’ their respective campaign by moving forward in the competition.

The two sides won one game apiece in their clashes during the 2024-25 ISL campaign. This could be a bit of a ‘decider’ on who is the better side for this season. The Kalinga Super Cup 2025 match itself is expected to be a very competitive, hard-hitting affair between the two sides.

It should also feature some interesting battles on the pitch, with both sides boasting some impressive talents in their squads. Here we look at the three key battles to watch in the Kerala Blasters vs East Bengal clash.

3. Jesus Jimenez vs Anwar Ali

Kerala Blasters FC will look to take the fight to East Bengal FC and put them under pressure with their incisive, fast-paced attacking moves. The focal point of the Tuskers frontline remains Jesus Jimenez, who scored 11 goals in the 2024/25 ISL campaign.

He excelled as the lead man for the Blasters in the ISL, using his clever movement and finishing ability to torment opposition players. Jimenez now needs to get back to his best to outwit this East Bengal FC backline, which had the fifth best defensive record during the 2024-25 ISL season.

Jimenez also faces a stern test against Anwar Ali, who had a mixed-bag of a debut campaign with the Torchbearers. Ali will have to be at his composed best in the East Bengal FC backline to ruin Jimenez’s game.

The Indian centre-back must be smart with his marking and be decisive with his challenges to foil the Blasters’ plans to supply balls to Jimenez. The Spaniard will look to outwit the defenders with his off-the-ball runs and beat him in the key duels to give an added edge to his side.

2. Adrian Luna vs Saul Crespo

Saul Crespo is coming off a frustrating 2024-25 ISL campaign in which he was only able to appear in 13 games for East Bengal FC. In that period, he contributed three goals (one goal, two assists) but was far from his best. Crespo has to be more energetic and aggressive with his work in the midfield battle against Kerala Blasters FC.

That is because he might face a feisty battle against their captain, Adrian Luna, who will look to move into the central areas to torment the Red & Gold Brigade. Luna had six assists in the ISL campaign and will look to control his side’s attacking patterns against East Bengal FC by sneaking into the empty areas and fling some quality passes into the final third.

Crespo has to be ready for the challenge and needs to press down Luna as well as win the key duels in midfield to ruin his momentum. The Spaniard also has to be sharp in regaining possession for his side and help them dominate the midfield battle.

Luna is going to look to ruin those plans by helping controlling things in the central areas for Kerala Blasters FC. He will be working hard to win back the ball and commanding his side forward with his unpredictable nature of attacking defenders.

1. Dimitrios Diamantakos vs Milos Drincic

Dimitrios Diamantakos will meet his former Kerala Blasters FC teammate Milos Drincic in the Kalinga Super Cup 2025 Round of 16 clash. Diamantakos had a pretty underwhelming 2024-25 ISL campaign for East Bengal FC, only scoring four goals in 19 games.

However, he did pretty well in the cup competitions, scoring four goals in the AFC Challenge League campaign! Diamantakos will look to continue his good form in cup games by tormenting his former side at the Kalinga Stadium.

The Greek forward has to be more calm and patient with his approach in this clash, tracking his side’s attacking patterns and trying to get at the end of chances more clinically. He’ll be tasked to use his diverse finishing ability to get some powerful shots into the goal, even though he won’t have an easy game with East Bengal FC.

Drincic is aware of how Diamantakos plays like and will look to use that knowledge to his advantage. The 26-year-old will look to mark the East Bengal FC forward tightly, claiming him with decisive challenges and neutralizing his threat.

This should be a pretty eventful battle on the pitch which has a potential major impact on the result of this upcoming game.

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