SC East Bengal are coming into this match on the back of a consistent string of results over the past three games. And as they face Kerala Blasters in Friday night's Indian Super League fixture here at the Tilak Maidan Stadium eyes will be on East Bengal to carry on in the same vein. (More Football News)
A lot has changed since the two met in December. In that game, SCEB were eventually held to a 1-1 draw after Kerala scored in injury time but since then, they have been on an upward curve. Robbie Fowler's side are unbeaten in their last five games, securing two wins on the way. And despite being ninth on the table, they find themselves just five points away from a playoff spot.
Their current run of form pleases Fowler but he knows SCEB still have a lot to fight for as they look to remain in contention for the playoffs.
One major positive that SCEB have witnessed during their unbeaten streak has been their attack. The Kolkata giants have been creating chances and found a way to score goals, an area they struggled at the start of the season. SC East Bengal announced the signing of midfielder Ajay Chhetri on loan from Bengaluru FC for the remainder of the 2020-21 Indian Super League season on Friday.
The addition of young Bright Enobakhare has bolstered their forward line with the Nigerian contributing two goals from three games. The midfield has also stepped up, providing 7 of their 10 goals this season – contributing more than any other midfield.
This will come as a major boost against a Kerala side that has shipped the most goals this season (19) and just kept one clean sheet. But similar to SCEB, Kerala's attack has also been in form, scoring 13 goals – only Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC have netted more. Eight different goal scorers have been involved for Kibu Vicuna's side – the joint-most by a team. But Kerala's struggling defence is not an issue for Vicuna as long as his side is scoring more goals.
All you need to know about the SC East Bengal Vs Kerala Blasters match:
Match: 59th match of ISL 2020-21 between SC East Bengal Vs Kerala Blasters
Date: January 15 (Friday), 2021.
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Tilak Maidan Stadium, Goa
Head-to-Head: The two sides have met once with the match ending in draw.
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 XIs:
Kerala Blasters: Albino Gomes; Nishu Kumar, Sandeep Singh, Abdul Hakku, Jessel Carneiro; Jeakson Thounaojam, Vicente Gomez, Rahul KP; Sahal Abdul Samad, Facundo Pereyra, Jordan Murray.
SC East Bengal: Debjit Majumder; Scott Neville, Raju Gaikwad, Daniel Fox; Ankit Mukherjee, Mohammed Rafique, Haobam Tomba, Matti Steinmann, Bikash Jairu; Jacques Maghoma, Bright Enobakhare.