Preview: Kerala Blasters eye return to winning ways against NorthEast United

Ivan Vukomanovic's men are winless in seven matches against the Highlanders.

Kerala Blasters FC will look to get back to winning ways and continue their push for a top spot when they take on rock-bottom NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Friday.

A resurgent Bengaluru FC ended Kerala's 10-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win in the last match. It was their second defeat of the season and head coach Ivan Vukomanović would like to believe that it was a blip in an otherwise terrific campaign that saw them move to the top of the table for the first time since the inception of the league.

The Stakes

Kerala Blasters

That 10-match unbeaten run was the longest by a team this season. They picked up 20 points in that run from five wins and five draws.

Kerala's defence has been one of the key factors behind the longest unbeaten run in their history. They kept clean sheets in five of the 10 matches and conceded only six goals in those matches. Kerala conceded more than one goal in a game only once in their 10 games unbeaten run.

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"We have to continue working hard. In the last match, we played after a long time but the boys showed a good mentality to fight. The boys have a winners' mentality and we want our fans to know whatever game it is, we will fight for the logo and for the fans," Vukomanović said before the game.

"We have to be ready to compete as the league is very hard and unpredictable. We also can't want to play in front of our home fans as I believe that will give us wings to fly," he added.

NorthEast United

NorthEast United have endured a wretched run so far, slipping to the foot of the table after SC East Bengal's 2-2 draw against Chennaiyin FC last night. The Highlanders' plight was summed up in their last game where they lost 0-5 to league leaders Hyderabad FC, but Jamil said the heavy defeat is behind them now and the team is focusing on the next game.

"We are focusing on tomorrow's game. We are not thinking about the heavy defeat in the last game. This is the best solution for us," he said.

On Deshorn Brown, Jamil said: "He is fine hopefully. He practised and he is better now. He will be available for tomorrow's game."

Brown has not featured in the last four matches for the club and that is one of the primary reasons why they have struggled in front of goal. They have also struggled to score in open play without him. All five of their last five open play goals have been scored by Brown.

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NorthEast United will be working hard on their set-piece routines as well after seeing the number of goals conceded by Kerala Blasters in open play recently.

In their last eight games, they have conceded five goals and only one has been from open play. In total, they have conceded five of their 11 goals from open play, the fewest by a team this season. They are also one of only four teams to have conceded less than 10 goals from open play in Hero ISL 21-22 so far.

Brown (11) also needs one goal to equal Bart Ogbeche’s record of 12 goals for NEUFC and become their joint top-scorer.

Team News

Lalthathanga Khawlhring saw his fourth yellow card of the season in the previous game against Bengaluru FC and is suspended for this match. Coach Ivan Vukomanovic confirmed all the other players have recovered and will be available for the match against NorthEast United. For NorthEast United, goalkeeper Mirshad Michu is still out with injury, but striker Deshorn Brown is fit again and is likely to be part of the matchday squad.

Head-to-Head

Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United have faced each other 15 times in the Indian Super League. Amongst these, KBFC have won five while NEUFC, four — along with six draws. Subsequently, the Yellow Army are winless in their last seven meetings with the Highlanders.

Probable Lineups

Kerala Blasters: Prabhsukhan Singh (GK); Harmanjot Khabra (C), RV Hormipam, Marko Leskovic, Nishu Kumar; Ayush Adhikari, Jeakson Singh; Sahal Abdul Samad, Adrian Luna; Jorge Pereyra Diaz, Alvaro Vazquez.

NorthEast United: Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (GK) & (C); Provat Lakra, Patrick Flottmann, Diallo Zakaria, Gurjinder Kumar, Sehnaj Singh, Mohammed Irshad, Imran Khan, Marco Sahanek, Marcelinho, VP Suhair.

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Did You Know?

• If Kerala Blasters lose this match, it will be their 50th defeat in ISL history. Only two teams have so far lost 50 or more games - Chennaiyin FC (51) and NorthEast United (55).
• NorthEast United have conceded the most goals from open play (24), crosses (9) and through balls (8) this season.
• Kerala Blasters are yet to lose a game after scoring first this season. They have won five and drew once after they scored the first goal. NorthEast United, on the other hand, dropped 13 points from winning positions this season.

Telecast

The match between Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United will be played at the Tilak Madan, Goa. The game will kick-off at 7:30 pm IST. It will be telecasted live on the Star Sports Network. The match will also be streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar platform and the JioTV app.

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