ISL 10: Kerala Blasters Vs Bengaluru FC, Rivals Meets At Opening Match (image-www.instagram/indiansuperleague)
The Indian Super League 10th season will kick start today at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. In the opening match, southern rivals Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC will come head-to-head in the Nehru stadium.
Kerala Blasters known for its legion of vibrant fans, known as ‘Manjappada’ is expected to fill the stadium as usual. Blasters will host Bengaluru expecting their fourth win in 15 games. Kerala Blasters have been part of ISL’s opening fixtures since 2016.
The last match in which both the teams met ended in chaos, with Kerala Blasters abandoning the playoff game following an argument over a refereeing decision.
Bengaluru FC have upper hand in this organic rivalry, as they have eight wins in 15 matches. And blasters failed to keep a clean sheet against the Blues, conceding 20 goals.
In the last season, thrice they met. But Blaster could only manage one win in their home ground while Bengaluru won twice.
For Kerala Blasters, Pritam Kotal and Prabir Das are among the players who were added to their roster ahead of the 10th edition of the ISL, while they lost the services of star midfielder Sahal Abdul Samad to Mohun Bagan Super Giant.
Both the teams met first in December 2017 with the Blues winning the match for score 3-1.
In the super league matches 12 teams will participate. As 22 more games are added this year making it a total of 139, 10th season will be the biggest and longest. Matches will be played in home and away format at 11 venues.
The team with the most points will qualify into the group stage of AFC Champions league 2 at the end of league stage. The top two teams will also qualify directly for the ISL 2023-24 semi-finals while the teams ranked from third to sixth will vie for the remaining two spots via eliminators.
All Indian Super League (ISL) matches will be live streamed and broadcasted live on TV.
