Match Preview:- Hyderabad FC vs SC East Bengal
The men from Nizam’s city have not lost any matches in the tournament till now, being some days down to two foreigners or three foreigners. The young Indian players have been rock solid in the defense as well as in Hyderabad FC’s midfield. They will look confident and will be eyeing for a win against the league debutants SC East Bengal as Hyderabad FC will get the service of their star striker Aridane Santana and their Boss, Manolo Marquez, in the reserve bench as they were out against the tournament favorites ATK Mohun Bagan FC but still, steady performance from the boys gave them one point from that fixture. It will act as a booster against another team of Kolkata.
SC East Bengal drew their last home match against strong Jamshedpur FC and got their very first point in the Hero Indian Super League. The main problem still lies in their attacking zone, they are lacking a goal poacher who will be speedy and can keep the goalkeeper busy all the time. India’s second-highest goal-scorer in history Jeje Lalpekhlua got a chance in the last match but could not perform anywhere near the expectation. The midfield somehow started to shape properly, they performed decently against Jamshedpur FC. The defense looked rock-solid in their last outing led by Mohd. Irshad but Robbie Fowler and the boys failed to score a goal in the tournament yet.
Three Indian Players to watch out for:-
The three Indian players to watch out for are Liston Colaco, Subrata Paul, Md.Irshad. Liston Coalco was awarded Hero of the Match in their last fixture against ATK Mohun Bagan FC. He had been the standout player after joining HFC last season. Subrata Paul, the old horse in Indian Football has started again to show his reflexes under the sticks, he made eight saves last match and also led the team beautifully from guiding the youngsters to rectifying the mistakes. Md. Irshad had been the main man in EB’s defense after Danny Fox being ruled out due to injury, he made some brave tackles, great interceptions, timely clearances to get to stop Nerijus Valskis led Jamshedpur attack and helped his team to clinch the first-ever point in Hero ISL.
Three foreign players to watch out for:-
Three foreigners to watch out for are Joao Victor, Matti Steinman, Anthony Pilkington. Joao Victor played a pivotal role in HFC midfield not only to stop ATK MB midfield but also to start the attack from scratch. His overall performance in the center of the midfield gave him a chance in ISL’s Team of the Week(Gameweek 5). Matti Steinman is the player who has played the most number of passes in the SCEB squad and we’ve also shown some super skills from the former Germany U-20 player. He will be the key player for this fixture. Anthony Pilkington- the main man in SC East Bengal’s attack, although they haven’t scored yet in the tournament he has created quite a handful of chances, hope we can see him on the scoresheet later tonight.
Injuries
Aaron Amadi Holloway will be on the bench for the first time ever and the captain Danny Fox will still be out along with Eugeneson Lyngdoh for the card. SC East Bengal will not get the service of Sankar Roy after he was being subbed off for Debjit Majumder.
There are few injury concerns in Hyderabad FC camp as three of their foreigners Lluis Sastre, Fran Sandaza and Joel Chianese will be out for injury.
Line-up
Hyderabad FC(4-4-2)
Subrata Paul (GK), Akash Misra (LB), Odei Onaindia (CB), Chiglensana Singh (CB), Ashish Rai (RB), Joao Victor (CDM), Hitesh Sharma (CDM), Nikhil Poojary (RW), Halicharan Narzary (LW), Liston Colaco (FW), Aridane Santana (FW)
Substitutes:- Laxmikant Kattimani, Nikhil Prabhu, Sahil Panwar, Abhishek Halder, Adil Khan, Laldanmawia Ralte, Souvik Chakrabarti, Lalawmpuia, Rohit Danu.
SC East Bengal (3-4-2-1)
Debjit Majumder (GK), Scott Neville (CB), Sehnaj Singh (CB), Md.Irshad (CB), Md.Rafique (RWB), Narayan Das (LWB), Matti Steinman (CDM), Wahengbam Angousana (CDM), Anthony Pilkington (LW), Jacques Maghoma (RW), CK Vineeth (FW)
Substitutes:- Mirshad K., Rana Gharami, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Aaron Amadi Holloway, Gurtej Singh, Abhishek Ambekar, Samad Mallick, Bikash Jairu, Loken Meitei, Surchandra Singh, Balwant Singh.
Predictions
Hyderabad FC will go into the match with an advantage, so we can guess a win in favor of Hyderabad FC tonight.