Bengaluru FC are finally back at home after three games and will be willing to see the face of a victory against a demoralized East Bengal also riddled with injuries.
The Blues slumped to a 1-0 loss against Odisha FC which keeps them out of the playoff spots after four games while East Bengal's losing run continued with a 1-0 loss to Chennaiyin FC.
BFC vs SCEB Match Details
Date: Friday, 11th November 2022
Time: 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru FC
BFC vs SCEB Match Preview
After a long swing away from home, Bengaluru FC will finally have their fans cheering them on at Kanteerava in the fourth game of the season and they badly needed the comfort of a home fixture after three hectic trips to Chennai, Hyderabad and Odisha. The Blues did not win any of those games, drawing the Southern derby and losing the last two by a single-goal margin. Failing to create and finish chances has been a problem which has led to more pressure on the defense otherwise the solidity has not been compromised. The switch to a back four from a three to offer more attacking flexibility did not help the cause as Simon Grayson left to find answers again when Nanda Sakar scored just past the half-hour mark for an eventual 1-0 win to Odisha FC. Although Bengaluru FC are only three points away from the playoff spot, the run of a winless game will worry the side. With the league looking tighter than ever this season, the Blues have to find a way to victory to shake off their early season hangover. Victory in the opening game against NorthEast United and the only match played at this stadium this season could serve as motivation to turn things around with tenth-placed East Bengal visiting them. The visitors have only beaten them once in the last four ISL meets although the last meeting between these two at this ground went to the Red and Gold favor when both were in the I-league, the country’s other division. Still, Grayson will certainly fancy taking on an opponent who is in a more lackluster form than them to turn the tides around.
Stephen Constantine’s men fell into the same trap of defensive football leaving themselves toothless in attack in the 1-0 loss against Chennaiyin FC at the Saltlake Stadium. East Bengal only enjoyed 37% possession and produced no shots on target out of six taken in the game. The Torch Bearers were able to hold the away side till the 69th minute when the resistance was broken by Chennaiyin’s Iranian center-back Vafa Hakhamaneshi from a corner. He was shown a second yellow card for showing a message of solidarity for the protests back in his nation after the goal. However, any notion of taking advantage of the situation in the game was drowned after East Bengal themselves went down to 10 with right-back Sarthak Golui receiving a second booking too. Lack of spirit, intensity and fight was some glaring issue that remained in the home side’s game as they almost looked like a visiting team rather than the one hosting it. East Bengal failed to score for the second game running in the ISL with the kneejerk reaction they expected from the defeat in the Kolkata derby was not to be seen. With injuries now hitting the team hard for the next games, the Red and Gold are looking into the third season of upsets since their introduction to the league. Their only win this campaign came against fellow strugglers NorthEast United in the last away game and that is the sole positivity in mind before they take on Bengaluru FC at Kanteerava. Another daunting schedule awaits them with Odisha FC and Jamshedpur FC to face before the end of this month after this clash.
Recent Form
BFC: LLDW
EB: LLWLL
BFC vs SCEB Team News
Simon Grayson gave injury updates regarding two of Bengaluru’s forwards ahead of the game with Prince Ibarra set to miss out for a longer period of time while Sivasakhti is back with the group after twisting his ankle in the loss against Odisha FC at the end of last month to be substituted at half-time. He is expected at least to make the bench for the match. Javi Hernandez also struggled for fitness throughout the season but can make the squad this time around.
East Bengal are also having injury troubles of its own with Alex Lima and Aniket Jadav while Souvick Chakrabarti is still in the hospital suffering from dengue. Sarthak Golui is suspended after being sent off against Chennaiyin FC. These absentees have given Stephen Constantine his lack of options in the starting eleven making them huge misses for the side from Kolkata. Cleiton Silva will hope to get back to the scoring sheet on Friday against his former club.
BFC vs SCEB Predicted Lineups
BFC: Gurpreet Singh; Prabir Das, Alan Costa, Sandesh Jhingan, Naorem Roshan Singh; Suresh Singh, Bruno Ramires, Javi Hernandez; Sivasakhti, Roy Krishna, Sunil Chhetri
EB: Kamaljit Singh; Lalchungnunga, Charalambos Kyriakou, Ivan Gonzalez, Jerry Lalrinzuala; VP Suhair, Amarjit Kiyam, Jordan O’ Doherty, Naorem Mahesh Singh; Semboi Haokip, Cleiton Silva
BFC vs SCEB Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Gurpreet Singh (8)
DEF: Roshan (8.5), Jhingan (8.5), Costa (9) Kyriakou (8.5)
MID: Mahesh (7), Almeida (8.5), O’Doherty (9) Javi (7)
FW: Krishna (9), Silva (9)
Vice-captain: Cleiton Silva
Captain: Roy Krishna
