Match 5 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 will see Jamshedpur FC squaring off against Chennaiyin FC in both teams’ opening game of the campaign at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Tuesday. Both sides have made plenty of changes to their squad ahead of the new season, including the head coaches and they will be looking to make a positive start to their season.

The two sides have met six times in Hero ISL history with Chennaiyin winning twice, Jamshedpur coming out on top once and the rest ending in draws. Tuesday’s clash between the teams, though, will have an added edge to contest with Owen Coyle and Nerijus Valskis – Chennaiyin’s head coach and leading goal-scorer from last season respectively – now a part of the Jamshedpur camp.

Jamshedpur, in fact, look like they have assembled a strong squad for Hero ISL 2020-21 as they target their first-ever semi-final appearance. They will be led by Peter Hartley as skipper and the English defender will have the likes of Stephen Eze and Narender Gahlot to partner him in the centre-back slots. Joyner Lourenco is another player that can be expected to feature in their backline from time to time, while Laldinliana Renthlei and Ricky Lallawmawma will probably make the fullback slots their own.

They also boast a strong midfield with Aitor Monroy and Amarjit Singh slated to play integral roles at the centre. Alexander Lima, who has played under Coyle earlier and Mohammad Mobashir, who was amongst the goals in pre-season, will have big responsibilities to carry out for the team as well. New signing Jackichand Singh will also be hoping to hit the ground running, while their frontmen Valskis and David Grande will eye opening their account for the campaign in their season opener.

While discussing how his former team is shaping up ahead of the new season in the pre-match press conference, Coyle said: "[Csaba] Laszlo has inherited a good squad. He has made some good foreign signings. [Though] I have no doubt that Chennaiyin FC will be a major force in the league again and we have to make sure that we are ready for that challenge in our opening match."

Chennaiyin will have Csaba Laszlo as their head coach and Rafael Crivellaro as their captain in Hero ISL 2020-21. Enes Sipovic is mostly likely to partner Eli Sabia in defence and the fullback positions will probably be occupied by Reagan Singh and Jerry Lalrinzuala. As far as their midfield is concerned, it’s safe to say that the Marina Machans are spoilt for choice.

Crivellaro and Anirudh Thapa should be guaranteed starters, while Lallianzuala Chhangte – the highest-scoring Indian midfielder last season – will be hoping for another solid campaign this time around. Chennaiyin are in truth blessed with quality in the middle of the park with Thoi Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Edwin Vanspaul, Memo Moura, Germanpreet Singh and Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev making up the rest of the southerners’ options to choose from. Up front, Jakub Sylvestr will need to carry the burden of replacing Valskis as Chennaiyin’s leading scorer from last season and he will be hoping for some support from Esmael Goncalves.

When speaking about the new additions to his team at the pre-match press conference, Laszlo said: "Coyle is new at Jamshedpur and so am I at Chennaiyin. I don't think it will have an impact. We have changed a few players. The most important thing is confidence along with motivation. We have to make the best decisions on the pitch. We must be prepared. The time was very short and this is a puzzle we have to solve."

Squads:

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

Chennaiyin FC

Goalkeepers: Revanth BY, Vishal Kaith, Karanjit Singh, Samik Mitra.

Defenders: Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Enes Sipovic, Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Remi, Balaji Ganesan, Aqib Nawab, Deepak Tangri

Midfielders: Fatkhulo Fatkhuloev, Thoi Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Memo Moura, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rafael Crivellaro, Abhijit Sarkar, Pandiyan Sinivasan, Germanpreet Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Edwin Vanspaul.

Forwards: Jakub Sylvestr, Aman Chetri, Rahim Ali, Esmael Goncalves.

Live Broadcast Schedule:

Hero ISL 2020-21 Match 5: Jamshedpur FC vs Chennaiyin FC

Date: November 24 (Tuesday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV