Gameweek 8 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 begins with Odisha FC’s clash against Hyderabad FC at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. Both sides have won just a single match so far and find themselves in the bottom half of the table. Their form coming into the tie isn’t quite great either, with Odisha losing to Bengaluru FC and Hyderabad succumbing to defeat against FC Goa in their last encounter.

Odisha FC

Josep Gombau and Co. would have been disappointed to earn nothing from their match against the Blues last time around. They dominated possession, created the bulk of the second half chances and had Bengaluru’s defence second guessing on more than one occasion. The ruthless edge though, was once again, missing from their game and the Hyderabad tie presents them the perfect opportunity to rectify that.

The Telangana-based outfit haven’t just failed to keep clean sheets so far this season but have also conceded the most goals. Those numbers will be especially enticing for Odisha’s Spanish duo, Aridane Santana and Xisco Hernandez who have scored seven of the eight goals netted by Odisha so far. However, to do so, both players and the team as a whole, must do better in front of goal, as their conversion rate has significantly dropped in the last four matches compared to the opening three games.

Defensively, Gombau’s side were once gain undone by a set-piece in the match against Bengaluru – the fourth time they conceded via that route already this season. Hyderabad have quite a few physical players within their ranks, and could use them to seriously hurt Odisha should they be unable to remedy that weakness before Wednesday.

Hyderabad FC

Phil Brown’s men suffered their fifth defeat of the season against FC Goa in their last match. The performance wasn’t quite good enough even though most of their players, including defender Adil Khan was back from injury. Placed at the bottom, time is slowly running out for Brown and Co., who require nothing less than three points against Odisha.

The club, however, will have to do it without the services of Marcelo Pereira who is suspended after collecting his fourth yellow card against FC Goa. The Brazilian’s loss is a big blow to Hyderabad’s chances since he has scored 40% of the club’s goals this season. Moreover, Marcelo is also the team’s chief orchestrator with his work rate also being one his biggest attributes.

Add to that, Hyderabad’s record away from home that’s seen Brown’s men concede 10 goals from just three away fixtures so far – the highest tally in the division. They’ve also faced the most shots and will be defensively susceptible even more given Marko Stankovic’s absence. The hard-working midfielder suffered an injury in the seventh minute against Goa and is ruled out of the fixture, making Hyderabad’s task even more difficult.

Probable line-ups:

Odisha FC: Arshdeep Singh (GK), Narayan Das, Shubham Sarangi, Diawandou Diagne, Carlos Delgado, Vinit Rai, Marcos Tebar, Xisco Hernandez, Aridane Santana, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Nandhakumar Sekar

Hyderabad FC: Kamaljit Singh (GK), Asish Rai, Rafael Lopez Gomez, Matthew Kilgallon, Nikhil Poojary, Mohammed Yasir, Rohit Kumar, Laldanmawia Ralte, Giles Barnes, Bobo, Robin Singh

Did you know?

• Hyderabad are winless in the last four matches. They’ve scored just two goals during that interval.
• Odisha have created 23 chances in the last four matches – five fewer than they managed in the first three matches.
• Odisha are also winless in their last four matches. They, too, have scored just two goals during that interval.

Fan Speak:

Will Hyderabad be able to compensate the loss of Marcelo Pereira?

Have your say in the comments below.

Live broadcast schedule:

Hero ISL 2019-20 Match 36: Odisha FC vs Hyderabad FC

Time: 7:30 PM onwards, December 11

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Hotstar and Jio TV