Top man: The Blasters’ defence can have its arms full attempting to cease an in-form Roy Krishna
ISL/ Focus Sports
There was a time, not so way back, when Bengaluru FC was looking at a 3rd straight below-par season. After accumulating simply 10 factors from the primary 12 matches, the 2018-19 Indian Super League champion appeared set to overlook out on a playoff spot even in a beneficiant, new format the place six out of 11 groups would make the grade.
But with eight wins on the trot, Simon Grayson’s facet has not solely stormed into the playoff spherical however is the favourite going into the single-leg knock-out contest against Kerala Blasters FC on the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday. At stake is a spot within the semifinal against Mumbai City FC.
With only one win from the final 5 outings and none from the earlier six away fixtures, KBFC will want an inspirational efficiency.
For that, two figures who can enliven proceedings, Adrian Luna and Dimitrios Diamantakos (10 objectives), can’t be as silent as they had been in the latest tie between the 2 sides (a 1-0 residence win for BFC final month).
Part of it was additionally right down to BFC’s defence — simply six objectives conceded within the final eight matches — led by the excellent Sandesh Jhingan, who will look to proceed in comparable vein.
In Javi Hernandez, BFC has a gamechanger, and in Roy Krishna and N. Sivasakthi, an in-form entrance two. KBFC must cease the trio that has accounted for 17 of BFC’s 27 objectives this season. But with out midfielder Ivan Kaliuzhnyi (suspended), it will likely be fairly a job.
