ISL: Bengaluru FC hope to return to winning ways in the battle of the newbies against Jamshedpur FC

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Bengaluru, December 20: One goal scored and one conceded.

The stat is as simple as that for Jamshedpur FC, one of the two new teams in the Indian Super League.

The other new team in the ISL, Bengaluru FC, have 14 goals so far in the campaign and have let in eight. Come Thursday (October 21), the battle of the newbies will involve one team which is shy of stepping out defending for 90 minutes against the free-flowing BFC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Out of their five matches so far, Jamshedpur FC have drawn three goalless, won one - against Delhi Dynamos and lost another - against FC Pune City. No points for guessing the match that saw them score their first ISL goal. BFC, on the other hand, look to bounce back after their unbeaten home record, stretching 13 games, end 1-2 at the hands of Chennaiyin FC last Sunday (December 17).

"Well, I think we should not see too much of what happened in the last match," Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday (December 20). "It's something that's there in the past. They have not scored or conceded much. They play very plain and it's an English style of play, which is always difficult to control. They don't take risks. They just want to keep the ball and we can't press them much. But I have to respect the football they are playing. For sure, it's a challenge we have to face. To beat them will be a good win for us."

Little on the goals involving Jamshedpur FC - both of them were about tapping in from set-pieces for Steve Coppell's side from Jharkhand. And something on set-pieces involving Bengaluru FC - they have scored four of their 14 goals from corners or free-kicks.

The key for Albert Roca's Bengaluru FC on Thursday then will be to hold onto a lead secured through a set-piece conversion. Erik Paartalu, who was benched during the 1-2 loss to Chennaiyin FC, is expected to return to the Playing XI for this reason alone. He has scored three goals this season - all from set-pieces involving him and winger Edu Garcia. "Set-pieces are a very important part of football and a very important part of Bengaluru FC. We have scored and conceded from set-pieces, so we will have to work on that," Roca said. "Why not we use them to our advantage tomorrow? We have powerful players and they can win confrontatations. Let's see if we can score against them."

Jamshedpur, who last played a match 10 days ago, look fresh and ready for a challenge. Izu Azuka remains their only goalscorer and it won't come as a surprise if the visitors try to sneak one in early in the game - the trick appears to have worked for FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC. To beat BFC, Coppell admits his Jamshedpur FC side have to play like Chennaiyin FC.

"We have to prepare in a similar way to Chennai," Coppell, who led Kerala Blasters to the ISL final last season, said. "BFC had five to six changes in the last game. That shows that Roca has confidence in the depth and quality of his sq uad. Those changes perhaps didn't work in terms of result for a different reason. But he may have the deepest squad in the ISL at this stage of the tournament. It's a great challenge for us to beat them. Chennaiyin FC embraced that challenge and we hope to do the same. We have been 10 days without games, so we are looking forward to playing here."

Coppell pointed out the injury to defender Anas Edathodika as the reason for their shyness up front.

"If you look at it logically, Anas was our first pick in the draft," Coppell said. "We had a thought process in mind when we selected him and it was obviously to play him as much as possible. A strong Indian at the central defence means you can play an extra international up the field. Not having Anas available means we have to field a foreigner at the back, which has affected our firepower. We're hopeful that he recovers soon. As soon as we bring him back, we can release another foreigner up front. His return will perhaps enable me to restore the team to the way it was originally designed."

Bengaluru FC vs Jamshedpur FC

Indian Super League

Live from the Sree Kanteerava Stadium

At 8 pm

On Star Sports 2 and Hotstar