Jamshedpur, March 29 (IANS) With a place in the playoffs at stake, Jamshedpur FC will take on Kerala Blasters FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 on Saturday as both teams hope to gain something from this match.
Kerala Blasters FC have suffered defeats in four out of their previous five matches this season. The Yellow Army is stuck at fifth spot in the standings at present, having 29 points from 18 games.
They have not officially made it to the playoffs yet but are a good eight points ahead of the sixth-placed Punjab FC (21), who have played a game more (19) than the Kochi-based team (18).
Jamshedpur FC have won twice in their previous five matches, earning 20 points from 19 games. They are a point behind Punjab FC and will be locking horns with Kerala Blasters FC, Chennaiyin FC, and FC Goa respectively to round off their league campaign.
The first place looks significantly far off for Kerala Blasters FC at the moment, but they will want to recover some form before potentially heading into the playoffs.
Kerala Blasters FC held the upper hand in most of their proceedings in the first half of the season. However, their form has deteriorated since then, and they have failed to score in each of their last two away fixtures in the ISL. The last time they went with more away games without finding the back of the net even once was in three matches between October-November 2016.
Ivan Vukomanovic & Co. will be wary of dragging things right back on track to bolster their chances of finishing the campaign strongly. They have had to deal with multiple injury concerns, but the squad still has it in them to get their backs straight up and deliver better performances than they have had since the international break in January.
The mantle for the same will have to be taken by their Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos, who has recorded a shooting accuracy of 75% in the league, which is the highest amongst all players in the competition who have attempted at least 10 shots.
In contrast, Jamshedpur FC have not won any of their last five games against Kerala Blasters FC in the ISL. This is their longest such run against the Yellow Army, and their second longest stretch of this kind against any team, only next to Bengaluru FC (6).
Jamshedpur FC’s 3-0 loss in their previous game due to forfeit was their first defeat on their home turf against Mumbai City FC. The Red Miners were unbeaten in their previous four matches at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamil’s reign. However, they are also without a clean sheet in their previous seven encounters at home. It is difficult to catch a breath against the Red Miners, especially in the final phases of the game.
They have netted nine times in the final 15 minutes of their games so far, which is the most amongst all teams in the competition. However, no team has scored fewer goals than them (2) in the final 15 minutes of the first half of their matches until now, which is a period of the match that Kerala Blasters FC can look to attack them this season.
In 15 matches played between these two teams, Kerala Blasters have won five and lost three while seven games have ended in draws.
–IANS
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