Carles Cuadrat hopes to benefit from set-piece strength, Cesar Ferrando looks for Cahill impact on debut

The Men of Steel beat the Blues in the corresponding fixture last season.

Bengaluru FC will be looking to win their second straight game at their fortress the Kanteerava Stadium before going into the international break. They will be coming up against a Jamshedpur FC side who notched up an impressive 0-2 away victory at Mumbai City in their opening match.

Coach’s Corner

Carles Cuadrat (Bengaluru FC)

The Blues coach was wary of the threat the visitors hold, but was confident in his team’s own abilities and preparations to prevail in the match. “Jamshedpur had a very good game against Mumbai in the last game. They controlled the ball well and they have the talent in the offensive side of their game to hurt their opponents.”

“We plan to have the ball as much as we can and would want to provide chances to our strikers, who showed last week that they can be so dangerous. In the second half of the game against Chennai we created 4-5 good opportunities.”

“Also we have been working on set-pieces and we have been always good at them and this is an area where we plan to suppress them (Jamshedpur)."

The Spaniard brushed away any cause for concern about his team starting games slowly-notably in the AFC Cup against Altyn Asyr and last week against Chennaiyin. He said “You plan on going into every match with the intention to win, but circumstances do not always go along with you in the game. Losing against Altyn Asyr hurt, but they are a very good side and are now in the final of the AFC Cup.

“Last week against Chennai we had the ball and were pegging them back in their half, but from our one corner they countered and had a very good chance on goal. It is these moments in the match that gives the opposition confidence and you feel a little unsafe”

He stressed the importance of the game on Sunday saying, “Both Jamshedpur and us won our first games and both of us would want to win this one which would take the winning team to the top of the table.”

Cesar Ferrando (Jamshedpur FC)

The match will probably see the debut of the living legend of Asian football Tim Cahill in the Indian game and the gaffer had words of praise for the mercurial Aussie.

“Tim is a very important signing for us. He has an impact on the team on and off the pitch. He had been training well for the last few days and he should play this game. His presence is a great experience for the Indian boys in the team and they are very happy to be training with him. Like others, he too has to prove himself and I am very sure he will do well.”

The coach was asked about the style of play he expects from Bengaluru coached by fellow Spaniard Cuadrat and he had this to say. “Bengaluru are a very good side and Carles is a very good coach. I have played with him together and I know he is always hungry to win. So, it is going to be a very challenging game for us here.”

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Team News

Bengaluru FC

Bidyananda Singh is out injured for a few months, while Spanish midfielder Dimas Delgado is back in the squad after recovering from injury.

Jamshedpur FC

Defender Dhanachandra Singh is out with a calf strain and veteran goalkeeper Subrata Paul is serving a three-game suspension for the red card he picked up last season.

Probable Lineups

Bengaluru: Sandhu, Bheke, Juanan, Serran, Nishu, Khabra, Partaalu, Xisco, Chhetri, Udanta, Miku.

Jamshedpur: Chowdhury, Yumnam Raju, Tiri, Raju Gaikwad, Jairu, Memo, Mario, Calvo, Jerry, Farukh, Cahill.

Did You Know?

• A total of 63 fouls have been given in this fixture from the last season over the course of two legs (JFC (32), BFC (31).
• Both the legs saw at least one side keep a clean-sheet and quite amazingly it was the away team on both occasions.
• A total of eight yellow cards have been shown in this fixture till date 4 (JFC), 4(BFC).

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Broadcast

The match will take place tomorrow at 7:30 PM, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. On television, the match will be live on Star Sports 3/HD. It will also be streamed on Hotstar and Jio TV.