Margao (Goa), Dec 12 Both Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters have got off to shaky starts to the Indian Super League (ISL) season and will be looking to make amends when they face each other on Sunday at the Fatorda Stadium.
Bengaluru have had a marginally better start as they have a win under their belts along with three draws. They are yet to lose a game. Kerala, on the other hand, have suffered two defeats and two draws.
Kerala will miss the injured Sergio Cidoncha, who has left for Spain for his recovery programme.
Bengaluru have a good head-to-head record against Kerala. In six games, they have prevailed on four occasions and lost just one. Carles Cuadrat's side have struggled to find the net this season Bengaluru have scored just five goals in four matches thus far.
Bengaluru started the campaign with a 3-4-3 formation, which wasn't conducive to their style forcing Cuadrat to deploy a four-man defence. The change in plan has helped Bengaluru bring out best from Dimas Delgado and Udanta Singh.
"It was not working well for us at the moment but it can work well in the future. We have a plan B and C. We came back to a 4-3-3 and it helped us to get more offensive," Cuadrat said on the eve of the match.
The Bengaluru coach sounded confident of his side getting back on track and added, "We have to be mentally and physically strong. Some teams had a longer pre-season but are not able to take three points."
Four of their five goals have come from set-pieces this season and this could pose a threat to Kerala whose defence has been the most vulnerable in the league.
This season, Kerala Blasters have conceded six goals (second-most), despite facing just 13 shots on target. "We are working and hoping that in the next game, everything is going to be better. We didn't think we will get two points in four games but sometimes it happens," said coach Kibu Vicuna.
( With inputs from IANS )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor