Can Lallianzuala Chhangte and Ryan Williams duo solve the goal-scoring crisis for India?

India to play Hong Kong on 31 March

The beginning of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 might have sparked the momentum levels of Indian football, which was clouded in uncertainty before it.

As the league season now moves into overdrive, the attention will slowly also spin its way to the Indian national football team – who will return to action in the March (2026) international break.

India has one remaining match in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, as they will be hosting Hong Kong in a home match on 31 March (2026). The Blue Tigers might not have the chance to qualify for the Asian Cup anymore or even get a top two place in their group, but they can at least spark a solid start to 2026 with a positive performance against Hong Kong.

Khalid Jamil will be eager for his side to get over their disastrous loss to Bangladesh in their recent international fixture and to get his side playing exciting, attacking football again.

Fortunately for the gaffer, he will now be able to use the services of Ryan Williams – who has become an Indian citizen and can add a lot more power to the Indian frontline.

With India only scoring four goals in their last five international matches, the area of improvement significantly falls upon the goal-scoring factor.

The Blue Tigers will be hopeful of Ryan Williams to add more goals to their product, but they cannot simply rely on one individual itself. They will also hope others pick up their game, and one Indian forward who can combine well with the Bengaluru FC man is the experienced Lallianzuala Chhangte.

The Mumbai City FC forward has had a positive start to the ISL 2025-26. Chhangte looks sharper and seems to be working hard on adding more ruthlessness to his final product.

Here, we look at whether the Chhangte-Williams duo can help the Indian side finally get rid of their goal-scoring crisis.

Can Chhangte and Williams operate together for India?

Of course, some fans can’t be faulted for being caught in a dilemma that the inclusion of Ryan Williams can hamper Chhangte’s role in the side. But that isn’t really the cause because of how versatile both players are in terms of tweaking their style to perfectly adapt to different styles to help their team prosper.

Even if the Bengaluru FC forward was to take the right-wing role in the Indian national team, there is still a strong chance that Chhangte can play on the left-wing.

More ideally, it’ll actually probably serve the Mumbai City star better to play as a false no.9 for India – especially considering the dearth of quality centre-forward options at Khalid Jamil’s disposal currently.

Chhangte might not be the most physical of forwards, but he can hold his own with his link-up play and trouble centre-backs with his movement.

Moreover, Chhangte’s ability to move into the pockets of spaces and drag defenders out of their comfort zone can also allow him to send Williams or other teammates through on goal by displacing the opposition defenders from their natural positions.

Even though both are naturally right-wingers, Chhangte and Williams have quite distinct playing styles which can possible complement each other for the Blue Tigers. It’s just a case of harnessing their strengths and creating an understanding to keep the opposition players guessing to enhance the overall threat of India’s attacking moves.

The need to harness ruthless best for India matches

Lallianzuala Chhangte has made 52 appearances for India since his debut on 25 December 2015. Now more than a decade later, Ryan Williams seems poised to make his international debut for the Blue Tigers – at the age of 32!

Their respective journeys to the Indian side were different, but now the two left-footed forwards are focused on being aligned towards India’s success.

Chhangte has scored nine goals for the Blue Tigers so far, averaging one goal almost every six games for them. In the 2024-25 ISL campaign, the Mumbai City FC star managed 17 shots on target and scored six goals from them.

There is a need for Chhangte to amplify his finishing skills to be more accurate with his finishing from promising situations at the international level.

He proved how good his finishing can be with the slick goal against Kerala Blasters recently, but there is a need for Chhangte to be more consistent with that. He needs to tap into his ruthless best for the Blue Tigers, taking more devastating long-range efforts but also getting into promising positions inside the box to finish off moves with crisp close-range goals.

Williams, similarly, has seven goals in 20 ISL matches last season for Bengaluru FC. He is yet to be properly tested at the international level as Williams couldn’t play for the Australia national team at the international stages. As a result, playing in these international matches with India will be a new experience for him.

What both Williams and Chhangte need to do is being smarter with their decision-making and final product for India.

They are both capable of dancing their way into the promising areas, but the forwards need to be prolific with outwitting goalkeepers with clever shots on goal and finishing to enhance the Blue Tigers’ frontline’s chances of scoring more goals in a consistent manner.

Consistent creative back-ups from fellow teammates

Lallianzuala Chhangte and Ryan Williams can only be depended upon to prove the goals for the BLue Tigers as long as they have solid creative back-up from their teammates. Khalid Jamil cannot expect to drop all the responsibilities onto these two promising forwards and then expect them to come up with the goods in a consistent manner.

The Indian forwards will need their midfielders to be more proactive in the creative sense going forward for them to really take the fight to opposition players.

The unique creativity of Brandon Fernandes can work well with Chhangte and Williams, who have the intelligence to get at the end of Brandon’s passes and get into more goal-scoring areas.

Anirudh Thapa has had a great start to the 2025-26 ISL campaign with two assists in as many games. He can add more snappiness to India’s progressive play and also provide the cutting-edge passes that Chhangte and Williams need to move through on goal.

Lalengmawia Ralte is another creative prospect to set up the chances, while the likes of Macarton Nickson, Liston Colaco and Naorem Mahesh Singh all possess decent creative skills.

As long as Khalid Jamil is able to revolve his system to favor these creative players, they can be the ideal support for the likes of Williams and Chhangte. The two promising forwards need some players to match their vision and play the ball to them in the danger zones.

If that is done in a consistent manner, then Lallianzuala Chhangte and Ryan Williams can enhance India’s attacking threat and potentially help them score more goals on a consistent basis going forward.

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