East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters live: Commentary, live score, updates from the ISL clash

East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters will kickoff at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata at 8 PM IST, and we will be bringing you live commentary from the match in the live blog below, but before that a preview:

East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters: Preview

Buoyed by a massive crowd at the Nehru stadium in Kochi, Kerala Blasters pulled off a sensational win against Odisha FC to mark Ivan Vukomanovic’s return from his 10-match touchline ban. They will now look to build on what’s been a good start to the season as they travel to Kolkata to take on Carles Cuadrat’s misfiring East Bengal outfit. EB look the best they have in their short ISL career, but Cuadrat – renowned for his defensive acumen – will be worried that they have already thrown away one-goal leads twice in four games. With Cuadrat determined to showcase his greatest coaching strength in front of his home fans, and the Blasters keen to assert their very very early title credentials with a big win away from home, this promises to be a cracker.

East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters: Head-to-Head

They have played just six games against each other, with EB winning once and the Blasters winning twice. The other three games were, of course, drawn.

East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters: Key players

Naorem Mahesh Singh – East Bengal’s best player. On form, arguably the best Indian player in the league. He’s got just the two goals in four games, but every time he gets on the ball, East Bengal looks a threatening side. The more he sees of it against Blasters, especially down their defensively weaker (relatively) right side, the better EB’s chances are. Adrian Luna – Two things are guaranteed with Luna: he’ll run more than anyone else on the field, and he’ll create more chaos on the ball than anyone else on the field. The Blasters’ talisman has started the 2023/24 season on fire, with three goals and an assist (only his old mate Jorge Pereyra Diaz has more), and he’ll be looking to add to that tally in Kolkata.

East Bengal vs Kerala Blasters: Coach Speak

Carles Cuadrat: “What we have to change is that we have to be defensively stronger. In the past seasons in the ISL, our teams have gotten a lot of clean sheets, which we have failed so far this season. We are working on this. If you see most of our games, the opponent team is creating chances and it is coming from set-pieces, so we have to work on stopping that. We need to stop letting opponents create a lot of chances.”

Ivan Vukomanovic: “For us every game is very hard, very difficult whether we are playing at home, or away. East Bengal has a very good team with a very good coach. They have had a nice season and did well in the Durand Cup too. I think many clubs, almost all the clubs, are still finding the moment of finding themselves, solutions, even though we are five games into the season, but I think all teams will start playing normal and good football from January.”

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