Hockey India League: Vedanta Kalinga Lancers vs Soorma Hockey Club, preview, prediction, team news, and streaming details

The two bottom-placed sides in the Hockey India League face each other in the first of two games scheduled for Sunday, January 5. Both teams are winless thus far in the competition.

Kalinga Lancers, who looked extremely impressive against the Tamil Nadu Dragons, failed to latch onto a lead twice in the contest before losing the shootout. Valentin Altenburg's team had earlier been undone by a Kane Russell penalty corner brace en route to a 1-3 defeat.

Meanwhile, Soorma Hockey Club were blanked 0-3 by a rampant UP Rudras side after bagging a bonus point in the shootout against the Tamil Nadu Dragons in their opening Hockey India League game.

The Kalinga Lancers will find it hard to adopt a must-win strategy while doing things most things right in the previous game before finding themselves on the losing side.

Holding onto a lead has been the bane for the defending champions, who know they can ill afford another loss. Even so, committing personnel upfield at the cost of leaving gaps in defense may prove costly with a long way to go in the league stage of the tournament.

Soorma Hockey Club, no doubt dependent on Harmanpreet Singh to deliver the goods with his drag-flicks, have been let down by the Indian skipper, with Jeremy Hayward struggling with his penalty corners as well.

The likes of Vivek Prasad, Nicolas Keenan, Gurjant Singh, and the hard-working Phil Roper now have no choice but to get their act together in the attacking zone.

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Kalinga Lancers vs Soorma Hockey Club, Hockey India League match details

Match Details: Kalinga Lancers vs Soorma Hockey Club, League Match, Hockey India League 2024-25

Date & Time: Sunday, January 5, 2025, 6 PM IST

Venue: Rourkela, India

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Kalinga Lancers vs Soorma Hockey Club: Full Squads

Vedanta Kalinga Lancers

Goalkeepers: Krishan Pathak, Toby Cotterill, Sahil Kumar Nayak

Defenders: Sushil Dhanwar, Antoine Kina, Partap Lakra, Arthur van Doren, Enrique Gonzalez, Rohit Kullu, Alexander Hendrickx, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay

Midfielders: Aran Zalewski, Rosan Kujur, Rabichandra Moirangthem, Nicholas Bandurak, Mukesh Toppo, Roshan Minz

Forwards: Gursahibjit Singh, Angad Bir Singh, Deepak Pradhan, Thierry Brinkman, Dilpreet Singh, Boby Singh Dhami

Soorma Hockey Club

Goalkeepers: Vincent Vanasch, Mohith HS, Jashandeep Singh

Defenders: Gurinder Singh, Maurya Ashu, Pradip Mandal, Nicolas Della Torre, Jeremy Hayward, Sukhvinder, Harmanpreet Singh

Midfielders: Vivek Sagar Prasad, Ankush, Victor Wegnez, Prabhjot Singh, Sunit Lakra, Harjeet Singh, Nicolas Poncelet

Forwards: Nicolas Keenan, Boris Burkhardt, Harish Somappa, Phil Roper, Pawan Rajbhar, Maninder Singh, Gurjant Singh

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Kalinga Lancers vs Soorma Hockey Club: Prediction

The Kalinga Lancers may be rewarded for their persistence on Sunday with a bit of luck while also knowing that conceding too many penalty corners will not be an option.

Teams have not got a chance to practice too many variations from the top of the circle yet but few will doubt the drag-flicking credentials of Harmanpreet Singh and Jeremy Hayward who are bound to come good sooner rather than later. The Lancers though have the ever-dependable Alexander Hendrickx to turn to making for a cracker of a contest.

Score Prediction: Kalinga Lancers 3 - 2 Soorma Hockey Club

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Where to watch Hockey India League 2024-25 matches in India?

Hockey India League 2024-25 matches will be telecast on the Sony Sports Network and DD Sports and streamed live on SonyLiv and Waves.