ISL 2024-25: Kerala Blasters looks for first points of the season as it hosts East Bengal

Kerala Blasters will be without its midfield general Adrian Luna who is still recovering from an illness that ruled him out of the opening match of the season against Punjab FC.

Published : Sep 21, 2024 20:17 IST , Kochi - 1 MIN READ

Kerala Blasters players during a practice session in Kochi on Saturday.
Kerala Blasters players during a practice session in Kochi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT/The Hindu
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Kerala Blasters players during a practice session in Kochi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT/The Hindu

After a weak show in its Indian Super League 2024-25 season-opener against Punjab FC, Kerala Blasters will be desperate to get its first points of the season when it takes on East Bengal FC at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.

But once again, Blasters will be without its midfield general Adrian Luna who is yet to recover fully from his illness.

Without Luna, Blasters looked a disjointed side in its 1-2 loss against Punjab.

“We came out pretty poor, it was a hard loss in the dying seconds, hard to handle but we have to move forward,” said the Blasters’ head coach Mikael Stahre on Saturday.

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“There are too many things that we need to focus on. We have to cross the halfway and more often, with control, so that we can bring more numbers higher up, create more crosses and have more players inside the box. We have to play like a home team. We have amazing fans, we have to play with a lot of energy,” Stahre said.

Both Blasters and EBFC lost their season-opener but the Kochi side could be under more pressure.

“We have to do a good job in front of the Blasters fans. Kerala is going to be under pressure, they have to fight a lot too,” said EBFC coach Carles Cuadrat,

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