After draws in their previous outings, both Hyderabad FC and Jamshedpur FC will be seeking a victory when the two sides square off at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Wednesday. Hyderabad have made the better start to the season with a win and a draw from their two games, while Jamshedpur are yet to win in the ongoing campaign having lost and drawn their first two encounters. The two sides have met twice previously with Jamshedpur winning once and the other encounter between them ending in a draw.

Having failed to keep a single clean sheet last season, Hyderabad have begun Hero ISL 2020-21 with successive shutouts and are looking organized defensively. Defender Chinglensana Singh was even adjudged the Hero of the Match in Hyderabad’s last game and Akash Mishra has been tipped to become one of the best fullbacks in India by head coach Manuel Marquez. Asish Rai, Odei Onaindia and goalkeeper Subrata Paul –- the custodian with most clean sheets in league history –- have also played a role in making Hyderabad’s backline a formidable one.

That said, they do need to be more enterprising in attack having netted a sole goal from the penalty spot in their two matches so far. Joao Victor has done a good job in shielding Hyderabad’s defence from midfield and he will be hoping that the likes of Halicharan Narzary and Nikhil Poojary can help unlock opposition defences from the middle of the park and help Aridane Santana up front.

“He [Nerijus Valskis] won the Golden Boot last season and this season he already has three goals and three very different goals… he’s not a typical striker and can play on the sides and wings as well. He’s very difficult to mark because there’s no clear reference. We have to be very focused and concrete because Valskis is a very good centre-forward,” Marquez warned his side of Valskis in the pre-match press conference.

Jamshedpur, on the other hand, will be eager to register their first victory of the season after a late strike in their last match denied them a win. They will be without first-choice goalkeeper TP Rehenesh, who was shown a red card in Jamshedpur’s last game and will be hoping that their back four of Laldinliana Renthlei, Peter Hartley, Stephen Eze and Ricky Lallawmawma can be more solid defensively having conceded four times in their first two games of the season.

Most of what happens in their midfield has been going through their lynchpin Aitor Monroy, who has completed the most passes (65), attempted the most forward passes (38) and made the most interceptions (4) by a Jamshedpur player. Only Eze has managed more recoveries (14) than Monroy’s 13 for Jamshedpur and his nine successful tackles is also one of the most by a player across the league. The Spaniard, though, will need more help from the likes of Alexandre Lima, Amarjit Singh, Mohammad Mobashir and Jackichand Singh if Jamshedpur want to dominate the centre of the park.

Up front, Jamshedpur seem overly reliant on Valskis. While Valskis will undoubtedly be their main goal threat over the course of the season, he cannot do everything alone and will need Jamshedpur’s other attackers to also chip in. Aniket Jadhav, John Fitzgerald and William Lalnunfela are a few of Owen Coyle’s attacking options to share the responsibility of scoring.

While speaking at the pre-match press conference, head coach Coyle said: “We are very respectful of the quality that Hyderabad have. Aridane has been a wonderful player in the league and he continues that show again. So, we are well aware of the threats they have and are respectful towards that. That being said, if we can perform the way we did in the first half [against Odisha FC] then we will be capable of going and winning the three points for ourselves. So, we respect the opposition but are focused on what we can do.”  

Squads:

Hyderabad FC

Goalkeepers: Lalbiakhlua Jongte, Laxmikant Kattimani, Manas Dubey, Subrata Paul

Defenders: Akash Mishra, Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Dimple Bhagat, Kynsailang Khongsit, Nikhil Prabhu, Odei Onaindia, Sahil Panwar

Midfielders: Abhishek Halder, Adil Khan, Sahil Tavora, Halicharan Narzary, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor, Laldanmawia Ralte, Lluis Sastre, Mark Zothanpuia, Mohammed Yasir, Nikhil Poojary, Souvik Chakrabarti, Sweden Fernandes

Forwards: Aridane Santana, Fran Sandaza, Ishan Dey, Joel Chianese, Lalawmpuia, Liston Colaco, Rohit Danu

Jamshedpur FC

Goalkeepers: Pawan Kumar, Niraj Kumar, TP Rehenesh, Raj Mahato, Vishal Yadav

Defenders: Narender Gahlot, Joyner Lourenco, Ricky Lallawmawma, Sandip Mandi, Laldinliana Renthlei, Karan Amin, Peter Hartley, Stephen Eze, Subhash Barua, Manash Protim Gogoi

Midfielders: Aitor Monroy, Alexandre Lima, Amarjit Singh, Jackichand Singh, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Mohammad Mobashir, Jitendra Singh, Gaurab, Manisana Singh, Harsha Parui, Gorachand Mamdi, Billu Teli

Forwards: Nerijus Valskis, William Lalnunfela, John Fitzgerald, David Grande, Sapam Kennedy, Bhupender Singh, Aniket Jadhav

Live Broadcast Schedule:

Hero ISL 2020-21 Match 14: Hyderabad FC vs Jamshedpur FC

Date: December 2 (Wednesday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV