East Bengal FC will host Kerala Blasters FC in Matchweek 18 of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Friday.

There has been considerable change since the two teams met in the opener of the Hero ISL 2022-23 season in Kochi. East Bengal FC are positioned ninth in the league table, having collected 12 points from 15 games. They are hanging by a thread in their pursuit of making it inside the top six and require all 15 points from their remaining five matches.

Meanwhile, their opponents, the Hero ISL finalists of last season, sit in third place with 28 points from 15 games and are inching closer towards their playoff qualification.

Despite their differing trajectories, the two teams share a common thread, which is the goalscoring prowess of their respective star strikers: Cleiton Silva and Dimitrios Diamantakos.

Both teams have strikers who have scored a significant chunk of their goals this season. The two strikers are top scorers for their respective teams with nine goals each.

The Red and Gold Brigade head coach Stephen Constantine has been rewarded with the signing of Silva who has been regularly racking up goals for his side. With his nine goals so far this season, the Brazilian has become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in the Hero ISL.

On the flip side, the Blasters’ head coach Ivan Vukomanovic replaced the duo of Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Alvaro Vazquez with Dimitrios Diamantakos and Apostolos Giannou, and it has been Diamantakos who has taken over the goalscoring mantle from the former duo by leading the charge from the front.

However, of late, both sides have been over-reliant on their goals. Of the last ten out of the 17 goals scored by East Bengal FC, Cleiton Silva has had a hand in six of them. In a similar vein, Diamantakos has scored five of the Kerala Blasters FC’s last ten goals.

Silva and Diamantakos have started all 15 games for their respective teams so far this season. Despite playing fewer minutes, the Greek striker has the same number of goals as Cleiton Silva, proving his efficiency in front of the goal with a better goals-to-minutes ratio.

While the two teams differ in their style of play and formation, Diamantakos’ hold-up play and his ability to link up with other forwards and midfielders has benefited the team by providing three assists.

The case is not the same when it comes to Constantine’s East Bengal FC who play a 4-4-2 formation. Under the Englishman, the Brazilian has been assigned the role of a proper number nine who feeds off the balls provided to him, with scoring as the sole objective. Thus, the Brazilian offers less creativity as compared to his Greek counterpart and has registered no assists so far this season.   

Cleiton Silva

Metric

Dimitrios Diamantakos

35

Age

29

15

Matches

15

15

Matches started

15

1328

Minutes

1196

9

Goals

9

0

Assists 

3

1

Pre-Assists

1

20

Shots on target

20

47

Shots

36

42.55

Shot Accuracy %

55.55

13

Chances Created

15

640

Touches

426

65

Oppn. Box Touches

70

52.9%

% of team goals scored

36%

As seen from the table above, the two strikers have been highly beneficial for their respective teams and are distinguishable in a few aspects. 

Under different styles of play, different sets of players, the two players coincide when it comes to the number of goals. Although Diamantakos has been the more efficient and creative one among the two, Silva has shouldered the responsibility of scoring goals for his team all by himself, accountable for more than half of the team goals scored.

With the battle for the Hero ISL Golden Boot intensifying with more than five contenders for the coveted prize, the game at Kolkata will be the perfect opportunity for the two talismans to sizzle on the big stage and overtake the leading goalscorer Iker Guarrotxena.

Related tags:

Kerala Blasters FC2022-2023East Bengal FC Match 87,East Bengal FC vs Kerala Blasters FCCleiton SilvaDimitrios Diamantakos