Hyderabad FC will look to carry the momentum of their thumping victory over Chennaiyin FC into their 2020-21 Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) game against NorthEast United FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Friday. Meanwhile, after a strong start to their season, the Highlanders are now winless in five matches following their loss to ATK Mohun Bagan and will hope to end this streak against Hyderabad.

Sharing his thoughts ahead of their encounter, Hyderabad head coach Manuel Marquez said, "The other day we won 4-1 after three consecutive defeats. Now, after we won 4-1, they say we scored four goals and Aridane (Santana) didn't score. Now NorthEast, they started with two wins and four draws but they didn't win the last five games but it's the same answer (for them). I think NorthEast can win this game and so can we.”

Hyderabad have shown their worth in the attacking third this season, and integral to their attack has been Halicharan Narzary. The winger, who scored twice against Chennaiyin, has taken the most shots for an Indian player this season (23). He also has six shots on target, scoring with three of those. In the Hyderabad team, only Aridane Santana has more goals and shots than him.

At the other end of the pitch, Hyderabad tend to concede a lot of late goals though, with eight out of a total of 11 against them coming in the second half of games. After keeping back-to-back clean sheets in their opening two games of the season and conceding just twice in their first four matches, Hyderabad have given away nine goals in their last five games.

Meanwhile, NorthEast United have failed to maintain the spark that made them one of the teams to look out for at the beginning of this season. Although they have been defensively solid, their attack has not been very consistent and injury to Kwesi Appiah has made things worse. The Highlanders scored 8 goals in their first five games, however, in their last four games they have hit the back of the net just twice.   

“We know that Hyderabad FC have a fantastic squad. Aridane is always a threat on top and they play in different systems. (Halicharan) Narzary and (Mohammed) Yasir are excellent. They are good with the ball. We have to be at our best. We will go with full commitment to get the three points, but with utmost respect as well,” said NorthEast United head coach Gerard Nus ahead of the game.

Squads:

NorthEast United FC

Goalkeepers: Gurmeet, Nikhil Deka, Sanjiban Ghosh, Subhasish Roy

Defenders: Ashutosh Mehta, Benjamin Lambot, Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar, Mashoor Shereef, Nabin Rabha, Nim Dorjee, Provat Lakra, Rakesh Pradhan, Wayne Vaz

Midfielders: Federico Gallego, Imran Khan, Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia, Lalrempuia Fanai, Pragyan Gogoi, Rochharzela

Forwards: Britto PM, Idrissa Sylla, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Kwesi Appiah, Lalkhawpuimawia, Luis Machado, Suhair Vadakkepeedika

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, Roland Alberg

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

Live Broadcast Schedule:

Hero ISL 2020-21 Match 51: NorthEast United FC vs Hyderabad FC

Date: January 8 (Friday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV