During a normal Indian Super League season, this fixture would have been one of the most heated clashes in the league due to the passionate rivalry between the two sets of fans. (More Football News)
Whether it be at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi or the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, supporters of both sides would have thronged to the stands in numbers.
No fans will be present at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim here, when Kerala Blasters take on Bengaluru FC on Tuesday. But the sheer importance of the fixture for two teams desperately trying to turn their season around means that it will lack none of the edge.
Kerala will be looking to put behind them, the disappointment of conceding an injury-time equaliser to SC East Bengal. This inability to hold leads has been a recurring feature of Kerala's season so far — they have lost ten points after scoring the first goal, the most by any team in the league.
Kerala coach Kibu Vicuna, though, has a number of issues to sort out. His team has conceded the most goals (20) this season and the joint-most number of penalties (5). Only SCEB has conceded more goals than them in the second half.
For Bengaluru interim coach Naushad Moosa, the match will be about snapping a five-match winless run that saw his team lose four. He will also be counting on his team to improve at the back for Bengaluru have not kept a clean sheet in eight games. They have already conceded more in the league (16) than they did in the whole of last season.
Moosa will be without influential midfielder Dimas Delgado, who flew back to Spain due to a family emergency. However, he was confident that Bengaluru had enough in the tank to cope without Delgado.
All you need to know about the Kerala Blasters FC Vs Bengaluru FC match:
Match: 65th match of ISL 2020-21 between Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC
Date: January 20 (Wednesday), 2021.
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: GMC Stadium in Bambolim, Goa
Head-to-Head: The two teams have met 7 times with Bengaluru winning five and Kerala Blasters winning once. One match ended in draw. They met on Dec 13 last year and BFC won 4-2.
TV Listing: Star Sports 1/HD, Star Sports 2/HD (English); Star Sports Hindi 1/HD, Star Sports 3, Star Gold 2 (Hindi), Asianet Plus, Asianet Movies (Malayalam); Star Sports Bangla; Star Sports Kannada; Star Sports Tamil; Star Sports Telugu and Star Sports Marathi.
Live Streaming: Online streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar VIP and JioTV.
Likely XI's:
Kerala Blasters FC: Albino Gomes (GK), Sandeep Singh, Nishu Kumar, Costa Nhamoinesu, Jessel Carneriio, Jeakson Thounaojam, Rahul KP, Vicente Gomez (C), Jordan Murray, Facundo Pereyra, Gary Hooper.
Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK),Parag Srivas, Rahul Beke, Juanan, Erik Paartalu, Harmanjot Khabra, Cleiton Silva, Suresh Wangjam, Kristian Opseth, Sunil Chhetri (C), Ashique Kuruniyan.
