Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 19 : Bengaluru FC (BFC) will host Hyderabad FC (HFC) at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium to kick off the second matchweek of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 on Thursday at 7:30 pm IST.
The Blues have won just twice in their last 10 ISL meetings against Hyderabad FC, and are chasing their first-ever consecutive victories against the team. Contrastingly, Hyderabad FC will seek early rhythm after having lost their opening games in each of the previous three ISL seasons.
"He (Vinith) had a good first half, but he's too young. He has quality, but he needs to improve a lot of things with his body, his movements, and tactically understand the game. We will work with him to make him even better. He was nervous; it was his first match at Kanteerava, playing with people like Sunil Chhetri, Rahul (Bheke), and players like this. He was nervous after the ball... then it came to one injury, and we hope it's not too much. And soon he will be ready to play again," Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza said ahead of the match as quoted by ISL.
Hyderabad FC head coach Thangboi Singto does not want to fix objectives for ISL 2024-25 already. He is looking at the broader picture and hoping that the team strikes the right chords within a matter of a few games and subsequently begin taking progressive steps.
"We want to progress from last season. We do not want to set targets already. We want to build things now, and the coming two-three matches will be crucial, since a few overseas players are yet to join the team. Once they join us, understand us, we understand them, we will have a clearer picture of where we want to reach," Singto said.
The players to watch out for in this clash would be Vinith Venkatesh of BFC and Hyderabad's Abdul Rabeeh.
Bengaluru FC's Vinith Venkatesh (19y 45d) is the youngest goal scorer for the team in the ISL, and the fourth youngest scorer overall. He is also the youngest player to score on his debut in the ISL. The Blues will hope that their academy graduate continues to deliver consistently upfront this season. Bengaluru FC's Nikhil Poojary is on the verge of making his 100th ISL appearance.
For Hyderabad FC, 23-year-old forward Abdul Rabeeh will be an important player, having completed 53 long progressive carries (carries with upfield movement of 10+ metres) in the ISL since the start of 2024, the third highest among all Indian players in this span (Manvir Singh - 85, Jay Gupta - 62).
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