PKL: Under-pressure UP Yoddha eyeing first win in home leg (Preview)

On the backfoot after three consecutive defeats in the home leg, hosts UP Yoddha will aim for a turnaround in their fortunes when they face a formidable Bengal Warriors in a Zone B clash of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 here on Tuesday.

The home team will also have at the back of their mind, the 20-40 thrashing against the same opponents at Nagpur, when they face off at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium here.

Despite sitting at No.2 in Zone B, UP have a lot of homework to do, especially after losing out thrice in front of their home crowd.

While the Yoddhas could blame their poor defence in the first two losses of the Lucknow leg, against U Mumba and Haryana Steelers respectively, Sunday's defeat to Jaipur Pink Panthers was a result of exerting more pressure on their raiders.

The home side will once again bank on the likes of top raiders Nitin Tomar and Rishank Devadiga to bring the smiles back to their home fans while the defence will be shouldered by the likes of Jeeva Kumar and Rajesh Narwal.

On the other hand, Bengal, sitting at No.5 in the same zone with two wins from five outings, will take a lot of heart from the draw against Gujarat Fortunegiants in their previous encounter at the Ahmedabad leg.

The Surjeet Singh-led side's fortunes will depend on the performances of Maninder Singh, South Korean Jang Kun Lee and Deepak Narwal.

If the Yoddhas can manage to keep Maninder quiet, it could bring Lee under pressure and force him to take undue risks.

Bengal's defence has not been put to the test yet, and it remains to be seen if they can hold their own against a strong raiding side.

--IANS

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