ISL 2018-19: Home comfort for Kerala Blasters as Delhi Dynamos come calling

Kerala Blasters FC are chasing their first home win of the season while Delhi Dynamos FC are hunting for their first victory

Kerala Blasters have made more than just a decent start to their campaign in the Indian Super League and will look at the massive home advantage to see them through against Delhi Dynamos at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi on Saturday.

The Blasters find themselves in the top half of the table, with four points from two games. The two-time finalists were in fine fettle in the season opener against ATK as they notched their maiden win on Kolkata soil.

They were well set to notch a second consecutive win before a gem of a strike from Pranjal Bhumij in the dying minutes saw them settle for a point against Mumbai City FC.

Under new boss Josep Gombau, the Dynamos were handed two home matches to kick off their campaign in the fifth season of the ISL. Those two matches have yielded just a point, although the Dynamos will feel they could have won both.

In their opener against Pune City, Delhi seemed destined for a win before a late equalizer from Diego Carlos. In their 1-2 loss to ATK, the hosts were guilty of some wayward finishing and conceded another late goal.

Kerala are chasing their first home win of the season while Gombau's men are hunting for their first victory. Brace yourself for another cracker of a contest.

SQUADS: Former India under-17 goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh has a 'best-in-the-league' save percentage of 85.71 per cent and looks set to start between the sticks again for them.

Sandesh Jhingan and Nemanja Lakic-Pesic have formed a formidable partnership in defence that has also featured Mohammed Rakip and Lalruatthara. Jhingan & co. have conceded only one goal so far and will pose a tough challenge to the Delhi forwards.

Lallianzuala Chhangte and Nandhakumar Sekar have been lively on the flanks but Gombau will be hoping striker Andrija Kaludjerovic finds his scoring boots soon. In fact, Delhi's forwards have the lowest shot accuracy so far with just 25 per cent.

MANAGERS SPEAK: "Delhi are an interesting team. They do like to mix it up. What I like about them is they are like us as they have gone with a youthful squad. When you add talent to that, they become a very dangerous side. Delhi have got potential but we have to make sure we are in the right (frame of mind)," Blasters coach David James said.

Dynamos' assistant coach Mridul Banerjee is also mindful of Kerala's defensive strength.

"Blasters are a very good team and I have coached a few players in that side. They have done very well in their last two matches. Blasters have a strong defence. It will be tough but we will give our best," he said.

"We are trying to solve this problem of conceding late goals. We are working on that and hoping to concede as few goals as possible," expressed Banerjee.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Kerala Blasters and Delhi Dynamos have met each other ten times with the former winning five of those contests while Dynamos won three ties.

FORM: Kerala have looked like the team to beat in this year's edition of the ISL. Apart from winning their opening fixture against ATK, they also narrowly missed out on another win against Mumbai City FC and had to settle for a draw. They have conceded just one goal till now while Dheeraj Singh has the best save percentage (85.71%) so far. The attacking trio of Halicharan Narzary, Slavisla Stojanovic and Matej Poplatnik have scored three goals in two matches.

Dynamos failed to win their opening two matches but they could have easily won both. The visitors have scored twice with six shots on target and have had a passing accuracy of 68.08 per cent.

PROBABLE 11s:

Kerala Blasters: Dheeraj Singh (GK), Mohamad Rakip, Sandesh Jhingan (C), Nemanja Lakic-Pesic, Lalruatthara, Nikola Krcmarevic, Sahal Abdul Samad, Seiminlen Doungel, Halicharan Narzary, Slavisla Stojanovic, Matej Poplatnik

Delhi Dynamos: Francisco Dorronsoro (GK), Pritam Kotal (C), Rana Gharami, Marti Crespi,  Narayan Das, Shubham Sarangi, Vinit Rai, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rene Mihelic, Nandhakumar Sekar, Andrija Kaludjerovic