Match 18 of the Indian Soccer League will see Kerala line up against Orissa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi tonight. Both teams are desperate for points in a bid to stay in the race for the playoff berths.
Eelco Schattorie’s side started the season brilliantly by defeating Kolkata 2-1 in the season opener. But it has been a downhill ride since then with two back to back defeats against Mumbai & Hyderabad. They are back home in familiar territory & the support will be amazing as always. While Sandesh Jhingan was ruled out for the season, Gianni Zuiverloon & Mario Arques are likely to miss out tonight.
Josep Gombau will be a happy man. After losing out narrowly in both opening games, Orissa finally made a bold statement by thrashing Mumbai in their own backyard. And they will be looking to carry that positivity forward by doing the same tonight. Orissa have a fully fit squad to choose their lineup from. And Carlos Delgado who missed against Mumbai is back after the suspension.
Predicted Line-ups –
Kerala: TP Rehenesh, Mohamad Rakip, Jairo Rodrigues, Raju Gaikwad, Mouhamadou Gning, Jessel Carneiro, Rahul KP, Sergio Cidoncha, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Sahal Abdul Samad, Bartholomew Ogbeche
Orissa: Francisco Dorronsoro, Narayan Das, Shubham Sarangi, Rana Gharami, Carlos Delgado, Vinit Rai, Marcos Tebar, Xisco Hernandez, Nandakumar Sekar, Aridane Santana, Jerry Mawhmingthanga
SportsGuru Prediction –
Orissa seems threatening & the chemistry of their attack might prove to be too much for the Kerala defense to handle. We predict a 0-2 victory for the visitors.
