ISL 2016: Atletico de Kolkata vs Chennaiyin FC - Predicted XI

Atletico de Kolkata will take on Chennaiyin FC in Kolkata

The Indian Super League is back after one long year and the football fans in the country will be hoping that the tournament is better and bigger than the previous times. The first match of the tournament took place between NorthEast United and Kerala Blasters, in which the former came out successful with a 1-0 win.

Now it's time for the second fixture of the three-month festival. The winners of the first two editions of the League will be going head to head in a very exciting match. Both Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC will be looking to win the title again and prove they are the real Champions.

Also read: ISL 2016 Squads: List of all players in the respective teams

The side from Bengal will be having an advantage over their opponents because the match will be taking place in their den, the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium. However, Marco Materazzi and his men will be looking to repeat what they did to Kolkata in the first leg of the last season's semis.

Both teams have made a number of additions to their squad (Atletico de Kolkata even have a new manager) and will be having a new look to their Line-Up this season. Here is our predicted Line-Up for the much-awaited match.

Atletico de Kolkata probable XI:

The team owned by Indian cricket legend Sourav Ganguly had two very good seasons under Antonio Lopez Habas but the Spanish manager is no more at the club. Habas has been replaced by Jose Francisco Molina who is also Spanish.

Molina has retained some players and also has brought in some new faces. The former Villarreal player and manager has been given the task of bringing back the title that the team lost to Chennaiyin last season.

The 46-year-old is expected to play the 4-2-3-1 formation to maintain the balance and chemistry of the squad.

Molina will be handing the goalkeeping task to Indian youngster Debjit Majumdar who has joined the team this season despite heavy competition from Dani Mallo and Shilton Paul. Majumdar is expected to get the nod ahead of Dani Mallo because of the fact that Kolkata will have to maintain the foreign players limit.

The Bengal side have retained last season's centre back pairing of Arnab Mondal and Tiri. For the full back positions, Kolkata have Robert Lalthlamuana, Pritam Kotal, Kinshuk Debnath, Prabir Das and Keegan Pereira. Out of these players, the former Bengaluru FC defender Keegan Pereira is expected to start ahead of Lalthlamuana.

With Pritam Kotal, Kinshuk Debnath and Prabir Das in his team, Kolkata manager Jose Molina will be having a real headache when picking his right back. However, Kotal will be the preferred option for Kolkata's season opener on Sunday.

Molina is expected to go for a midfield five and Kolkata has retained their pivotal midfielders of last season, Borja Fernandez and Ofentse Nato. The two foreigners will be keeping their spots in the team's starting Line-Up. Kolkata have brought in former Kerala Blasters Midfielder Stephen Pearson who will be giving Borja and Nato a tough competition.

Three attacking midfielders are expected to play in front of Nato and Borja. Former Kerala Blasters player Iain Hume is expected to occupy the number 10 role while Javier Lara Grande and Indian midfielder Bikash Jairu will support from the sides.