Preview: Chennaiyin FC eye first win over Bengaluru FC since 2019

Both teams made a winning start to their ISL 2022-23 campaign.

Both Chennaiyin FC and Bengaluru FC are coming off a victory in their respective opening encounters against ATK Mohun Bagan and NorthEast United. The 'Marina Machans' will be playing for the first time in front of their home fans after two years having last played in the semi-finals against FC Goa (winning 4-1) in the home leg in ISL season six.

Bengaluru FC, on the other hand, will come in with confidence having won the Durand Cup and the opening match in this ISL.

The Stakes

Chennaiyin FC

The Marina Machans got off to a perfect start, winning against the formidable ATK Mohun Bagan in an away game. The team have not won consecutive matches for more than two years and this time, they will be hoping to win in front of their home fans to set the record straight.

The right and left back along with the midfield had fared poorly in the first game which is an area of concern for head coach Thomas Brdaric to look after.

Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru FC won a close encounter against NorthEast United with Alan Costa scoring the match-winning goal. The Blues created 17 chances but could only get two shots on target. With two of the best strikers in the league in Roy Krishna and Sunil Chettri, this is a major concern for Simon Grayson. 

Team News

For Bengaluru FC, Prince Ibara is yet to return to training and is therefore out of this game. The rest of the players are available to coach Simon Grayson. Chennaiyin FC's Vincy Barretto and Alexander Romario Jesuraj are still not available for selection.

Head-to-Head

Both teams have met each other 11 times since Bengaluru FC’s inception into the ISL in 2017. Among these, Bengaluru FC holds a good lead with six wins. Chennaiyin have won the encounter thrice, while the other two have finished in draws.

Possible Line-ups

Chennaiyin FC: Debjit Majumder (GK); Edwin Vanspaul, Vafa Hakhamaneshi, Fallou Diagne, Narayan Das; Prasanth K, Sourav Das, Anirudh Thapa, Julius Duker; Rahim Ali, Kwame Karikari.

Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK); Alan Costa, Sandesh Jhingan, Aleksandar Jovanovic; Prabir Das, Suresh Singh, Bruno Ramires, Naorem Roshan Singh; Sivasakthi Narayanan, Sunil Chhetri, Roy Krishna.

Man to Watch

Kwame Karikari (Chennaiyin FC)

The 30-year-old Ghanaian scored a goal and provided an assist after coming on as a substitute in his maiden ISL match. Karikari covered good ground, running backward and fighting for the ball. Sliskovic lacked that ability and was looking for aerial balls to come in through the midfielders which weren't provided. Brdaric will look to carry forward the momentum and might put Karikari ahead of Sliskovic in the starting XI.

Alan Costa

The tall centre-back will play a huge role in negating the in-form Kwame Karikari. Alan Costa scored a goal from a corner kick against NorthEast United and is always a threat at set pieces for any opposition. But against Chennaiyin FC, he will have to go past the sturdy pair of Fallou Diagne and Vafa, who had performed well in the last encounter.

Did you Know?

• Chennaiyin FC has not beaten Bengaluru FC since ISL 5 (2019 season).
• Chennaiyin FC are unbeaten in their last four home games, winning three.
• Simon Grayson guided Bengaluru FC to their first trophy (Durand Cup 2022) since the 2018-19 season.

Telecast

The match between Chenniayin FC and Bengaluru FC will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 14. The kick-off time is 7:30 pm IST. The match will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network. Disney+HotStar and JioTV will also live stream the match.