OFC vs BFC Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Time: 20:00 (IST)
Venue: Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar
OFC vs BFC Match Preview
For the third straight game, Odisha FC failed to win a game from the leading position and lost their last two. The latest one came only days ago on their trip to Kochi when a 15th-minute opener from Diego Mauricio, his fifth strike in this fixture, was overturned by Kerala Blasters in the second half. The Brazilian also missed the chance to double the lead for the Juggernauts with his 22nd-minute penalty saved by Sachin Suresh. The goalkeeper also tipped Ahmed Jahouh’s free-kick onto the crossbar only which Naocha Singh threw an arm to causing the spot-kick to be awarded only moments ago. The defence was a big let-down for Odisha FC in the second half as they failed to stop waves of attack from the home side. They also conceded the goals by switching off and a piece of brilliance from Adrian Luna to perform an outrageous lob over Amrinder Singh for the winner. It was a difficult defeat to swallow for Sergio Lobera’s players who showed vivid frustrations among themselves too. However, the Super Cup winners are still unbeaten at home and hope to maintain it against Bengaluru FC on Tuesday. Odisha FC also won this fixture last time out with a sole strike from Nandha Kumar, now at East Bengal, proving the difference between the sides.
Bengaluru FC remain unbeaten in back-to-back games at Kanteerava after drawing for the first time this season by playing out a 0-0 against table-toppers FC Goa. While preventing a free-scoring side like the Gaurs and taking away their winning run brought delight to the Blues’s dressing room, thanks mostly to Gurpreet Singh’s excellent show between the sticks, the lack of attacking edge was the concerning part again. The swapping and changing of the team for each game mainly in midfield and forward line shows the lack of quality coming from the region. Overall, the result also did not help Simon Grayson’s team much as they remain outside of the top six in the 10th spot. Their 2-1 win against East Bengal, a game prior, remains their only this season but the Blues will look to maintain their unbeaten home form to register their first point(s) in away matches. So far, Bengaluru FC have lost all of their trips. Against Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, they will also be looking for their revenge in the Super Cup final played back in April. That cost the Blues a chance to play in the AFC Cup. Hence, there is no better fixture for the former ISL winners to end their away drought and pile more misery on the hosts.
OFC vs BFC Predicted Lineups
OFC: Amrinder Singh; Amey Ranawade, Mourtada Fall, Narender Gahlot, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Jerry Mawhmingthanga, Ahmed Jahouh, Puitea, Isak Vanlalruatfela; CY Goodard, Diego Mauricio
BFC: Gurpreet Singh; Namgyal Bhutia, Roshan Singh, Slavko Damjanovic, Jessel Carneiro; Ryan Williams, Keziah Veendorp, Suresh Wangjam, Javi Hernandez; Sivasakhti Narayanan, Sunil Chhetri
OFC vs BFC Dream11 Prediction
GK: Gurpreet (8)
DEF: Ranawade (8), Damjanovic (8.5), Fall (9)
MID: Jerry M (8.5), Javi (9), Jahouh (9), Williams (8.5)
FW: Mauricio (9), Chhetri (9), Vanlalruatfela (7.5)
Vice-captain: Javi Hernandez
Captain: Diego Mauricio
