AFC Cup 2017: 4.25 Sports Club vs Bengaluru FC - Telecast, live streaming, date, start time and where to watch online
Bengaluru FC travel to Pyongyang, North Korea to face 4.25 Sports Club in the second leg of the 2017 AFC Cup inter-zonal playoff semifinal. The first leg at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru turned out to be an easy outing for the Blues with Sunil Chhetri and his men making full use of the heavy rain conditions back home. A 3-0 advantage going into the second leg in North Korea must be a great cushion to fall back on but Bengaluru FC cannot afford to be complacent.
Hurting from a first leg humbling, the North Korean giants will be looking for an early goal to get back on track and will attempt to put the new look BFC side under pressure. Albert Roca will be under very little pressure with the job being done in front of the goal in the first leg itself. But the pressure of an away game in front of an unknown crowd has proved to be influential in many teams' fall from grace and hence Bengaluru FC will look to score a crucial away goal and finish off the tie.
Though a fan of the three at the back formation, Roca will not change the winning system and is expected to name an unchanged lineup in a 4-3-3 formation. The midfield of Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, and Lenny Rodrigues bossed their counterparts and will look to over power the Sports Club midfield. The front three will see Chhetri playing as a lone striker and Udanta Singh and Toni Dovale on the flanks. Juanan and Rahul Bheke are expected to be the central defenders with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu being the man between the posts.
Like BFC, 4.25 Sports Club also like to play a possession game and tend to enjoy a healthy share of the ball. Manager Hwang Yong Song is expected to name his side in a 4-4-2 formation with his side needing at least three goals in the 90 minutes of action. The North Korean club will be delighted with the return of striker Kim Yu-Song to the starting lineup after being on the bench in the first leg due to a slight niggle. Kim Yu-Song is the tournament's top scorer with nine goals.
The winner of this tie will advance to the inter zonal finals and meet the winner of the other semifinal between FC Istiklol of Tajikistan and Ceres Negros of Philippines.
Here is the Bengaluru FC squad which has traveled to North Korea:
Goalkeepers: Lalthuammawia Ralte, Abhra Mondal, Calvin Abhishek, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Zohmingliana Ralte, Collin Abranches, Joyner Lourenco, Juanan Gonzalez, Nishu Kumar, Prashanth Kalinga.
Midfielders: Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, Antonio Dovale, Boithang Haokip, Lenny Rodrigues, Alwyn George, Harmanjot Khabra, Malsawmzuala, Robinson Singh.
Strikers: Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Leon Augustine.
Time of the match: 01:30 PM IST
Where to watch it live: The match will be broadcasted live on AFC's official Facebook page. You can also follow it live for all the minute by minute updates on Sportskeeda's exclusive coverage of the big game.
Predicted BFC XI: Sandhu, Nishu, Juanan, Bheke, Khabra, Lenny, Delgado, Paartalu, Dovale, Udanta, Chhetri.
Predicted 4.25 Sports Club XI: Ri Kang, Pak M S, Kim C B, Pak J M, Ri Hyong M, Kwon C H, Kim J C, Ri Hyong J, O Hyok C, An I B, Kim Yu-Song.