ISL 2018-19: Struggling FC Pune City face stern Bengaluru FC test on road

Bolstered by the return of Dimas Delgado, Bengaluru FC's will look to maintain their stranglehold at the top, while Pune FC look to continue their search for the right balance in the Indian Super League at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru Friday.

The suspended Delgado is set to return and form a deadly combination with a fully-fit Erik Paartalu and skipper Sunil Chhetri in the first of their reverse fixture against FC Pune.

When FC Pune City walk out on to the Sree Kanteerava stadium, it will be a homecoming of sorts for the Stallions' interim head coach Pradyum Reddy.

Having been an integral part of the coaching staff when Bengaluru FC was established back in 2013, Reddy was instrumental in putting together a competitive Indian contingent.

The team would go on to enjoy success in the three years he spent there before joining Pune City as an assistant coach back in 2017.

Despite the familiarity and popularity he enjoys in Bengaluru, Reddy will have his task cut out as he aims to stop Carles Cuadrat's team who are still unbeaten in the ongoing season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL).

With just one win in their kitty from nine games, Pune City have no option but to arrest their slide by taking down the table-toppers. They seemed to have turned a corner after their 2-1 win over Jamshedpur FC but a defeat against NorthEast United deflated the optimism about them.

SQUADS -- Bengaluru have the tightest defence in the league and have conceded just five goals.

Albert Serran and Juanan have been solid at the back and in case they are beaten, a brilliant Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is a reliable last line of defence, as he showed in their 1-0 win over Delhi Dynamos. Gurpreet is leading the Golden Glove leaderboard and has 3 cleansheets to his name already.

The return to form of Udanta Singh in the last couple of games would have added to Cuadrat’s growing confidence in his players’ ability to mitigate rough patches.

Pune City's big names in attack - Marcelinho and Diego Carlos - have not really sparkled this season. Iain Hume has only made two appearances so far and Reddy will hope his industry and workrate up front provides dividends against the meanest defence in the league.

Against Bengaluru, Pune need to sort out their defence which has the worst record so far (19 goals conceded). The Pune defence has faced the most shots so far (141) in the league which indicates how porous they have been at the back.

Hume, after getting valuable minutes under his belt, will be looking to start and provide the spark upfront. Marcelo Pereira and the impressive Ashique Kuruniyan, on the other hand, need to up their performance if their team are to get anything out of the Bengaluru tie.

 

FORM -- Carles Cuadrat’s Blues have been consistent andn class in this season's ISL. Central to Bengaluru’s success has been their watertight defence which has let in just five goals this season – the fewest in the league. The Blues have also allowed the fewest shots on goal this season, while a win on Friday will see them collect all three points for the sixth match in a row.

Bengaluru FC’s attack hasn’t disappointed either. Led by the talismanic figure of Sunil Chhetri, the Blues striker-force is averaging close to two goals a game, although an untimely injury to striker Miku has forced Cuadrat to alter a few of his tactics. Chhetri, on the other hand, enjoys playing against the Stallions – scoring six goals in as many outings against them.

Bengaluru have scored 13 goals from 26 shots on target. They have the passing accuracy of 69.43 per cent and kept three clean sheet.

For Pune, it's the exact opposite as they have had a road full of struggles in ISL 2018-19 so far. After winning none of their opening seven games in the league, Pradyum Reddy’s side finally got the better of Jamshedpur FC at home, signaling at a possible change in fortune. Iain Hume’s return to the squad added further gloss to the result, but a humbling defeat at home to NorthEast United FC on Tuesday brought about a quick end to the Stallions’ short-lived celebrations.

Winless on their travels and a daunting prospect of an away day fixture at the home of pace-setters, Bengaluru FC will not come as a welcome sight for the Stallions’ fans. With 19 goals conceded, FC Pune City are also the worst defence in the league. They are the only team to not keep a clean sheet thus far in the campaign.

Despite that, the recent fight shown by the FC Pune City players will give Reddy something to build on. 

FC Pune City have scored eight goals from 37 shots on target. They have the passing accuracy of 64.66 per cent and have failed to keep even a single cleansheet this season.

MANAGERS SPEAK -- "The defence has been an issue over the course of the season but you look at the last match, defensively throughout the 90 minutes, we were pretty well organised. We conceded from a set-piece which has been an Achilles heel this season," Reddy said.

"The bigger concern is when we have played too defensively, we haven't managed to have an attacking threat. When we have gone out to attack, we have left holes at the back. I think we have to find the right balance."

To keep out Chhetri and company will be a tough ask but they will be relieved that the injured Miku is unavailable until January, having flown out to Spain for treatment. But Chhetri loves playing Pune City and has scored six in as many fixtures against them in earlier seasons.

"Miku is the kind of player you cannot replace, because you have to change the way you play. But it's interesting for us to try things that we have been working on until now," revealed Cuadrat.

HEAD-TO-HEAD -- Bengaluru and Pune have faced each other five times out of which Bengaluru have won three times and the rest have been draws.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS: 

Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Juanan, Nishu Kumar, Harmanjot Khabra, Kean Lewis, Xisco Hernandez, Udanta Singh, Chencho Gyeltshen, Sunil Chhetri (C) 

FC Pune City: Kamaljit Singh (GK), Gurtej Singh (C), Matt Mills, Ashutosh Mehta, Adil Khan, Ashique Kuruniyan, Robin Singh, Marko Stankovic, Marcelo Pereira, Nikhil Poojari, Iain Hume