The 2018-19 season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) will commence from September 29 with familiar foes Kerala Blasters FC taking on ATK at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. This season promises to be better than ever before with a host of new talented players and coaches joining the league.

Owing to India’s participation in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in January, the league will have a winter break towards the end of the year post December 16. Here’s all you need to know about the league’s format for the first half of the season.

Non-stop action

This year’s campaign will feature a clash everyday with teams playing out an average of two matches per week. There will be a total of nine matches played between September 29 and October 7, with each team except FC Pune City and Delhi Dynamos FC, playing two matches each, before the first international break.

Clubs will have a busy schedule for the first half of the season and thus, will have to rely on the depth of their squad to cope with the growing physical demands of the league. In contrast to last season, there will be only be a single match played out on Sundays instead of the double-header.

The matches have also been shifted to an earlier time slot and will begin from 7:30 pm IST.

International breaks

The league will include two international breaks during the first half of the season. The first break will commence on October 8 and will go on till October 16. The second break will take place in November from the 12th to the 20th

During these breaks, the Indian national team will take part in friendly matches, including a historic friendly against China as part of their preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2019. A number of Indian stars from the Hero ISL are slated to represent the country for the international matches.

The league will resume on November 21 and will run till December 16 before the commencement of the winter break, where India will go on to participate in the AFC Asian Cup in UAE. Matches will run every day during this period with a day’s break on December 10.

Click here for the full fixture list.