 "FC Pune City, Kerala Blasters FC")
FC Pune City will look to put an end to their winless start in this edition of Indian Super League (ISL) when they host Kerala Blasters FC at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Friday.
Pune City started off with an away draw against Delhi Dynamos and have since lost all three of their fixtures. Coach Miguel Angel Portugal has also lost his job and the onus of turning around their fortunes is now in the hands of interim coach Pradyum Reddy.
Reddy's attempt to get the team back on track ended in a 2-4 defeat at the hands of high-flying FC Goa. To make matters worse, Diego Carlos Oliveira was sent off in the second half and will miss the match against Kerala.
SQUAD: Pune's trump card is their lethal attack but both Marcelinho and Emiliano Alfaro have struggled in front of goal. Both players scored their first goal of the season against Goa in their last match which could be seen as a sign of a turnaround in fortunes for Reddy's men.
At the other end, the foreign strikers of Kerala Blasters, Slavisa Stojanovic and Matej Poplatnik, have impressed with three goals between them from four games and CK Vineeth has made a considerable impact off the bench with two goals so far.
As for Kerala, the forward pairing of CK Vineeth and Slavisla Stojanovic will be crucial to their attack. Seiminlen Doungel warrants a starting berth after his stunning second half cameo was the catalyst for Kerala’s comeback against Jamshedpur. In defence Anas Edathodika could make his debut for the club if deemed fit enough to start.
MANAGERS SPEAK: "With our league position, every game is a must-win game for us. If you pick up a win, you can make a significant jump up the table. Fortunately, other teams haven't picked up too many wins. So that gives us some hope," said Reddy.
The visitors aren't too well off either, with three consecutive stalemates affecting their playoff aspirations, even though they are still unbeaten.
"Kerala are unbeaten and are definitely going to be tough to break down. I think we've got some plans for them," claimed Reddy.
Kerala Blasters coach David James' task will be to ensure that his side leaves the pitch with nothing less than three points. After a good start against ATK in the season opener, the Kochi-based team has failed to grab a win in their last three matches.
"Pune City have got some talented players. They have one of the best Indian goalkeepers in the ISL (Vishal Kaith). If you look at their strike force, they have a lot of potential. So we need to score more than one. It is important for us to score more goals and hopefully, keep a clean sheet," said the former England goalkeeper.
The English coach will want to convert the draws into wins sooner rather than later after a difficult campaign last season that saw Kerala register the most numbers of draws (seven) and ultimately finish sixth on the table.
FORM: Pune have faltered in defence, having conceded 10 goals so far and failing to keep a clean sheet this season. Their famed attack duo of Marcelinho and Emiliano Alfaro are yet to come to the party. Miguel Angel Portugal even had to part with the team after a slew of dissapointing performances that sees the team sit at the bottom of the points table.
FC Pune City have scored just thrice from 19 shots on target and have the passing accuracy of 65.33 per cent.
Kerala haven't had the best of starts to the season either in which they started with a win over ATK but have since drawn three matches and now sit in the seventh spot with six points. During this time, they have scored six goals from 18 shots on target and have the passing accuracy of 70.12 per cent.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: FC Pune City and Kerala Blasters FC have faced each other eight times with Pune winning just once while Kerala have registered five victories. Two matches ended in draws.
PROBABLE 11s:
FC PUNE CITY: Vishal Kaith (GK), Ashutosh Mehta, Matt Mills, Gurtej Singh, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Jonathan Vila, Marko Stankovic, Ashique Kuruniyan, Marcelinho, Robin Singh, Emiliano Alfaro (C)
KERALA BLASTERS FC: Naveen Kumar (GK), Mohamad Rakip, Sandesh Jhingan (C), Anas Edathodika, Lalruatthara, Nikola Krcmarevic, Sahal Abdul Samad, Seiminlen Doungel, CK Vineeth, Slavisla Stojanovic, Matej Poplatnik
