ISL 2015: Delhi Dynamos vs Atletico de Kolkata - Preview, Live stream & TV channel info, Team News, Prediction
Delhi Dynamos will square off against Atletico de Kolkata at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday evening. The home side enter this game, having never lost to their Kolkata rivals in the tournament’s history. The past three games have seen the Dynamos win once, with two ending in draws.
Ahead of the game, coach Antonio Habas and his side were given a massive boost with the return of marquee signing Helder Postiga. The Portuguese will look to make his return after a month long gap following an injury sustained in the opening day of the tournament. The defending champions have also announced the signing of Serbian forward Dejan Lekic.
Dynamos on the other hand enter this game on the back of two hard fought home draws against NorthEast United and Mumbai City FC. A win for Roberto Carlos’s men could see them move top of the ISL standings, and the Brazilian is confident that his side will put their best foot forward.
“What matters to me is my team, their motivation, their eagerness to win and obviously we want to get to the playoffs as soon as possible. We have to win the home game,” Carlos said.
Kick-off Time and Live Telecast
Live Telecast: StarSports 1 & 2, StarSports HD1 & HD2
Live Streaming: starsports.com
Date and Time: Saturday, 14th November 2015 – 1900 IST
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium - Delhi
Live updates on Sportskeeda
Team News
Delhi Dynamos
There are no injury concerns for the home side with the Brazilian coach having an entire pool of players to choose from. The fitness of Robin Singh and Sehnaj Singh will be taken into consideration though as the duo return from India’s World Cup Qualifier win over Guam. Pakistan born Adil Nabi is expected to keep his place upfront after the on-loan West Brom player impressed in his first start against Mumbai City.
Former Chelsea winger Florent Malouda will look to continue his impressive form in the tournament so far having played all minutes of Dynamos’s campaign so far. Marquee signing Carlos could feature in the game as well if Sehnaj fails to make the cut in the starting XI.
Atletico de Kolkata
Things are finally looking good in the Kolkata camp. Habas’s side pulled off a dramatic last minute win over Kerala Blasters to get themselves back in the play-off contention. The return of Postiga and new signing Lekic will look to add more dynamism upfront alongside Iain Hume and Arata Izumi.
"Postiga will definitely add enthusiasm to the side after our good performance yesterday against Kerala Blasters FC. He has recuperated well and hopefully will be in action very soon. I am also looking forward to Lekic who seems a good prospect for the team is also expected soon to join the side," Habas mentioned.
Defender Arnab Mondal will return from international duty for the away side and it will be a tough call for Habas to risk his experienced center back against the home side. Midfielder Oftense Nato will be out for the game.
“We are waiting for the Indian national team players. They have the possibility to feature tomorrow,” Habas said.
Probable line-ups
Delhi Dynamos XI: Doblas; Riise, Anas, Souvik, Ralte; Mulder, Carlos; Malouda, Adil, Francis; Robin
Atletico de Kolkata XI: Amrinder; Franco, Arnab, Rino, Tiri; Doutie, Arata, Gavilan, Borja; Rafique, Hume
Key Battles
Malouda vs Anto
Malouda has been one of the shining stars in the ISL so far and has been a key reason for Delhi’s flying start to the campaign. What has surprised many though has been the fitness and dedication the former Chelsea winger has shown in the competition. The Frenchman is amongst the rare few who have played all the minutes of the tournament so far and there have been only a few occasions where his performance levels have dropped.
Against Kolkata though, the former Lyon winger could once again come up against a side who prefer to sit back and play a very counter attacking game. A similar thing happened against Mumbai as well, which troubled the Delhi side in all parts of the field.
While Malouda has been the chief architect of the side, creating numerous opportunities for his forwards, it has been the poor conversion rate that has been a worrying point for the home side. In Rino Anto he comes up against a defender who has struggled lately which has impacted Kolkata’s defensive display.
Against Kerala Blasters as well, Anto tried hard but was beaten by the Blasters forward and Malouda and co will be hoping they too can give the Indian defender a tough time.
Anas vs Arata
Arata enters the game against Delhi Dynamos on the back of scoring a brace and will be hoping he can replicate his form against Carlos’s men. Though on paper Dynamos’s defense has done fairly well in the tournament but there have been ample occasions where the side has been lucky enough to scrape past in a game.
The defense has struggled against teams that move the ball quicky and that should be the main focus of the Atletico side. Arata has done well in the tournament despite not being a regular starter and this could well be the opportunity the Japanese born play-maker could be looking for.
Anas has at times struggled in defense and there have been plenty of occasions where he has been bailed out by either John Arne Riise or some fine reflexes shown by Antonio Doblas.
This could well be a fasicnating encounter between the two I-League stars and could in the long run be a deciding factor in the game.
Prediction
Carlos’s men have struggled in front of goal despite creating ample opportunities and with the defending champions entering this game in the back off a stunning win against Kerala Blasters, the game could go down to the wire.
Delhi Dynamos 1-1 Atletico De Kolkata