Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC are a lot alike. They are helmed by Spaniards and are peppered with Spanish players who, naturally, like to play possession-based football.
Both the teams are walking into the Sunday fixture at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru with a win to flaunt from their season openers. The winner of the match will take the bragging rights for being the table toppers before the teams head into the season's first international break.
Jamshedpur FC comes into the match riding on the confidence of a terrific performance against Mumbai City FC, Mario Arques and Pablo Morgado’s strikes giving the team a flying start to the season.
All eyes, however, will be on the team's marquee signing Tim Cahill who is likely to make his ISL debut on Sunday. The Australian was serving a one-match suspension and couldn't feature in JFC's opening match against Mumbai City FC.
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"Tim is a good signing for us. In or out of the field, he is very important for us. I think he is going to play tomorrow. I am sure he is going to play well," Jamshedpur coach Cesar Ferrando said.
Talking about the fitness of the 38-year-old from Australia, the coach said: "He has to improve his performance a little bit. He has to improve. He can play for one hour to 70 minutes. That is enough for us."
Goalkeeper Subrata Paul will continue to sit out because of suspension while Dhanachandra Singh will miss the game with a calf injury.
For Bengaluru FC, defensive midfielder Bidyananda is out of the match with an injury but Spain's Dimas Delgado is likely to get a look in, having sufficiently proven his fitness to coach.
"We are missing Bidyananda, who had an injury with the B Team. It's unfortunate because he was making his way back into the first team. The good news is that Dimas is back, he has recovered well and we are happy to be able to have him as an option in midfield," BFC coach Carles Cuadrat said.
Bengaluru FC looked rusty in the first half of the match against Chennaiyin FC but Miku's brilliance saw the team break the shackles against the defending champion, before a much improved show in the second half justified its win. The Venezuelan is already hard at work for the game against the Men of Steel and is ensuring his team has all the advantage it can get.
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Cuadrat revealed the details: "Miku has previously been coached by him [Cesar Ferrando], so we have been getting some information from our striker about the way he functions, which is a good thing."
Jamshedpur and Chennaiyin FC were the two teams to hand defeat to Bengaluru FC at home, but the BFC coach chose to not read too much into the fact.
"I am aware that Jamshedpur beat us in this stadium last time, but a lot of things have changed since then. They have a new coach and new players, so I don't think that will make a difference. Jamshedpur is an offensive team. Teams that have a lot of possession are always tough to play. Jamshedpur have a new coach who has coached at the highest level (Atletico Madrid) and I am sure it will be tough," he said.
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