17:45: Hello guys and welcome to Khel Now’s LIVE REPORT on Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters at Durand Cup 2023. Only 15 minutes to go! I am your host Keshava Verma and will be with you throughout what promises to be an exciting evening of football. Please wait 30 seconds for the Live blog to work payload.
Durand Cup 2023: Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters – Construction
The doubles matches on the 15th day of the 132nd Durand Oil India Cup on Friday (August 18, 2023), will see Delhi FC take on Group E leaders Chennaiyin FC (CFC) at the Stadium. Indira Gandhi sports stadium in Guwahati, before two matches Indian Premier League (ISL) team Kerala Blasters and defending champion Bengaluru FC (BFC) face off in a must-win Southern Derby at Kishore Bharati Krirangan (KBK) of Kolkata.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a high voltage Southern Derby. BFC, the defending champions drew their first match while the Kerala Blasters failed in the Kerala derby clashed with Gokulam in their opening match. Therefore, both need to win the second game to keep their hopes of qualifying.
However, with the champions launching a young squad, the balance seems to be in favor of Manjappadas, especially if the form both teams have shown in the opening game are to hold.
The Blasters finished second in a seven-goal tie against 2019 champion Gokulam, but their key players like Urugyuan Adrian Luna, full-back Prabir Das and midfielder Jeakson Singh looked sharp. Particularly impressive is their young attacking winger, Mohammed Aimen.
Related News | NEXT POST
On the other hand, Bengaluru also had some encouraging performances from some of their young players. Bekey Oram and Harsh Patre in midfield were particularly impressive. Salam Johnson Singh will also be pleased to be on the board and if someone like Robin Yadav can get a free kick on target like he did at the Santosh Trophy, we could have a very interesting game on our hands.
BFC coach Bibiano Fernandes made some key points in the pre-match chat as he commented: “There were positive takeaways from our last game and there were certainly a lot of things we did. I need to improve. The game against Kerala will pit us against a really good team, and all the boys are looking forward to the challenge. The goal is to do your best to be able to make the right decisions on the pitch.”
For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, TwitterInstagram, Youtube and join our community on Telegram.
Leave a Reply