Kerala Blasters vs Punjab FC ISL 2024-25 Preview: Schedule, Team News, Predicted Playing XI

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It will be the first North against South encounter in the ISL 2024-25 season as Kerala Blasters hosts Punjab FC on Sunday (September 15).

Punjab FC, who were the first promoted team in the ISL last season, failed to make it to playoffs but showcased their quality in patches. The Blasters reached the playoffs but ended up without silverware.

Kerala Blasters vs Punjab FC ISL 2024-25 Schedule

Date: Saturday (September 14)

Time: 7:30 pm IST

Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi

ISL 2024-25: Kerala Blasters vs Punjab FC Injury Update, News

Kerala Blasters coach Mikael Stahre will be hoping for a positive start to the new season. After a disappointing outing in the Durand Cup, the Blasters will be looking to make a better start in the league campaign.

"They are a very eager group, always ready to put in maximum effort. We have a good mixture of youth and experience and also foreign players. But all of them have a huge drive, they want to improve themselves, and they want to achieve something for this club," Stahre said to ISL ahead of the match.

Punjab FC also have roped in a new coach in Panagiotis Dilmperis, who spoke about the ambition of the club and how they are moving forward. Despite losing some big players, Punjab have regrouped with some excellent signings.

"Punjab FC are moving forward every year. They are taking quality steps forward and everyone at the club including the director (Nikolaos Topoliatis) is focused on quality more than quantity. This is a great challenge for me because for this season we have to do one step better than last season. The previous season was also good, especially in the second half," Dilmperis said.

Kerala Blasters vs Punjab FC H2H Record

The two teams have played four times across all competitions, with Kerala winning 2 matches and Punjab getting one victory. Their last meeting was in the Durand Cup this year which ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Interestingly, in the league last season, Kerala Blasters suffered a 1-3 home defeat at the hands of Punjab FC.

Kerala Blasters vs Punjab FC Predicted Playing XI

Kerala Blasters: Sachin Suresh; Aibanbha Dohling, Horimipam Ruivah, Milos Drincic, Muhammad Saheef; Freddy Lallawmawma, Danish Farooq; Adrian Luna, Mohammed Aimen, Noah Sadoui; Kwame Peprah

Punjab FC: Ravi Kumar; Ivan Novoselec, Nikhil Prabhu, Khaiminthang Lhungdim, Vinit Rai; Ashish Pradhan, Filip Mrzljak, Abhishek Singh; Mushaga Bakenga, Nihal Sudeesh, Luka Majcen