Bengaluru FC welcomes Kerala Blasters in Kanteerava for a pulsating Southern derby to determine each other's place in the playoffs.
The Blues made it five straight wins in ISL by beating ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1 last weekend while Kerala Blasters came from behind to defeat Chennaiyin FC 2-1 on Tuesday.
BFC vs KBFC Match Details
Date: Saturday, 11 February 2023
Time: 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore
BFC vs KBFC Match Preview
Bengaluru FC have stitched together an incredible five-game winning run in the ISL which have put them in the playoff race. At times this season, the Blues seemed to have lost their way like the previous campaign but managed to turn their tables at the right moment. Full credit goes to the manager Simon Grayson who made the right changes to improve the team or maybe the change of personnel on the board could have altered the mood. Bengaluru FC are yet to lose in 2023 and their 2-1 away success against ATK Mohun Bagan put them in the top six for the first time this season. Two former employees of the opposition, Javi Hernandez and Roy Krishna struck late to seal the win. Dimitri Petratos’s strike took a deflection off Alan Costa to snatch the clean sheet of the match in stoppage time but that is all the Green and Maroon managed in the evening. Buoyant by their excellent showing so far, attention now turns to a crucial Southern derby against Kerala Blasters this weekend. Another victory will put the Blues into the fourth spot with a battle against the league leaders Mumbai City FC and then a huge clash with fifth-placed FC Goa coming up after this.
After losing against East Bengal at the start of the month, Kerala Blasters were back footed again with an early strike from Abdenessar El Khayati but this time showed spirit in cutting the deficit first through Adrian Luna and then Rahul KP scoring the winner. The Uruguayan provided the assist for the goal in a man-of-the-match performance taking his contribution tally to 10 in 17 matches. Thus, the 2-1 win against Chennaiyin FC gives them a lot of breathing space as the Tuskers will almost seal their place in the playoffs next month with another win. Hence, Ivan Vukomanovic’s men will be confident ahead of another Southern derby against a more in-form side in Bengaluru FC. The issue can be their sketchy away form with no wins in the last four. The three wins prior to that were against the bottom two sides of the league and the other one against the holders Hyderabad FC. It remains the only victory against a top-six opposition on the road this season. Kerala Blasters also haven’t won any meetings at the Kanteerava too. They can only wish that history does not repeat itself by providing the right attitude on the pitch.
Recent Form
BFC: WWWWW
KBFC: WLWLL
BFC vs KBFC Team News
Bengaluru FC will miss the service of Suresh Wangjam in midfield this weekend as he collected the maximum limit of yellow cards which handed him a one-game ban. Bruno Edgar could come in his place as the only change Simon Grayson is forced to make in the winning eleven.
Striker Apostolos Giannou had a fever which kept him out for the previous game but now he has recovered. Defender Marko Leskovic is fit and has started training. His muscle strain injury has healed but coach Ivan Vukomanovic does not want to take any risk until he hits the right levels. Sandeep Singh is out for the rest of the season.
BFC vs KBFC Predicted Lineups
BFC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Alan Costa, Sandesh Jhingan, Parag Srivas; Prabir Das, Rohit Kumar, Bruno Edgar, Javi Hernandez, Naorem Roshan; Roy Krishna, Sivasakthi Narayanan
KBFC: Prabhsukhan Gill; Nishu Kumar, Ruivah Hormipam, Victor Mongil, Jessel Carneiro; Sahal Samad, Jeakson Singh, Ivan Kaliuzhnyi, Rahul KP; Adrian Luna, Dimitrios Dimantakos
BFC vs KBFC Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Gurpreet Singh (8.5)
DEF: Costa (7.5), Jhingan (8.5), Hormipam (7.5)
MID: Rahul (8), Rohit (6.5), Kaliuzhnyi (9), Javi (9)
FW: Krishna (9), Diamantakos (8.5), Luna (9)
Vice-captain: Javi Hernandez
Captain: Adrian Luna
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
