There's a lot in common between Kerala Blasters FC and Hyderabad FC which meet in the Indian Super League at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
While the Kochi side has been winless in its last nine games, Hyderabad has a similar seven-match streak. The two are also at the bottom of the 10-team league table with the Blasters on the ninth rung (8 points) and Hyderabad on the last spot (5).
However, Hyderabad's lone win this season came against the Blasters, a 2-1 verdict in early November.
Eelco Schattorie, the Blasters head coach, felt Hyderabad would be a difficult opponent.
“It's going to be a very difficult game, I would have loved if we were playing Bengaluru or Goa tomorrow than the team below us because that brings certain dynamics with it,” said the Dutchman about the first match of the new year for both teams.
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“But we have to play them anyway, so we have to go all out, especially in a home game to try to get a good result.”
Schattorie explained that though Hyderabad was in a similar situation like Blasters with many injured players, things have changed in the rival camp.
“Hyderabad had a lot of injuries in the beginning but the last two-three games, it has had a full squad and you can see it is improving and that makes a difference,” he said.
Blasters, which suffered from poor refereeing decisions in a couple of games, will now be looking at each of its remaining games as a final.
“We have to try somehow be a bit more lucky and try to get eight wins from the eight 'finals' we have,” said Schattorie.
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