Kerala Blasters vs Bengaluru FC ISL 2023-24: Preview, Team News, Playing XI, Prediction

Add as a preferred source on Google

The Indian Super League 2023-24 commences on Thursday (September 21) with a blockbuster clash between Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.

The two Southern teams lock horns in the opening encounter and it will kickstart the top-tier league football of India. Bengaluru FC, who are the ISL 2018-19 Champions, will be hoping to pip the Blasters in their own backyard.

After last season's jaw-dropping scenes in the playoffs, we can expect an added edge to this encounter. The Blasters, managed by Ivan Vukomanovic, will be hoping to redeem themselves against the Blues. Although the manager said it is just one of the games of the season, there won't be any love lost between the two sets of players, who will be giving their all to get the three points.

Kerala Blasters vs Bengaluru FC Team News

Kerala Blasters may not have Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos who has recently joined the team. The Blasters will also miss two Indian stars Rahul KP and Bryce Miranda, who are on duty with the Indian team in the Asian Games. Karanjit Singh may well be on custodian duties, whereas Uruguayan forward Adrian Luna may also start for them.

Bengaluru FC are also going to miss their captain talisman Sunil Chhetri who is with the Indian national team for the Asian Games 2023. Rohit Danu is also not available for the Blues. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is set to start on goal for them and players like Javi Hernandez, and Halicharan Narzary are also set to start.

Kerala Blasters vs Bengaluru FC Starting Lineup: KBFC vs BFC Playing XI

Kerala Blasters FC: Karanjit Singh; Prabir Das, Pritam Kotal, Milos Drincic, Aiban Dohling; Jeakson Singh, Danish Farooq, Adrian Luna; Daisuke Sakai, Kwame Peprah, Ishan Pandita

Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Parag Shrivas, Naorem Roshan Singh, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Slavko Damjanovic; Rohit Kumar, Suresh Singh, Javi Hernandez; Sivasakthi Narayanan, Curtis Main, Halicharan Narzary

Kerala Blasters vs Bengaluru FC H2H Record

Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC have met 13 times in total in the Indian Super League, with the Blues winning 8 of them, compared to just three wins of the Yellow Army.

KBFC vs BFC ISL Match Prediction

We predict Kerala Blasters will win the match against Bengaluru FC by a narrow margin. The score prediction is Kerala Blasters 2 Bengaluru FC 1.