The southern derby clash between Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC might promise to produce unlimited entertainment at the Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday, February 11. Both sides are in red-hot form and will want to finish strongly at the business end of the season to qualify for the playoffs.
The hosts might start their forthcoming fixture outside the top six if Odisha FC manages a victory against Hyderabad FC on Friday. This might put them under immense pressure to get a result against the Men in Yellow, who have been equally dominant this season.
Although both sides are not in the running to win the League Shield, qualification to the playoffs cannot be compromised at any cost. The Blues will be looking to add one more to their trophy cabinet after clinching the Durand Cup last year. Meanwhile, Manjappada will be as desperate as their opponents to taste success for the first time in the club's history.
Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC have been firing on all cylinders lately - with Dimitrios Diamantakos, Adrian Luna, Roy Krishna, Javi Hernandez, and Sivasakthi Narayanan hitting the back of the net on a consistent basis over the last month.
Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters FC: Head-to-Head
The previous fixture between the two heavyweights produced a thrilling 3-2 victory in the favour of the Kerala Blasters in Kochi. The Blues have bagged more than half of their contests against the Men in Yellow, bagging six victories from eleven games.
The visitors were able to cross the victory line thrice, while they have shared spoils twice.
Bengaluru FC wins: 6
Draws: 2
Kerala Blasters wins: 3
Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters: Top goalscorers this season
Bengaluru FC: Javi Hernandez (5); Sivasakthi Narayanan, Roy Krishna (4); Rohit Kumar (3); Alan Costa (2); Pablo Perez, Sunil Chhetri (1).
Kerala Blasters: Dimitrios Diamantakos (9); Adrian Luna, Ivan Kaliuzhnyi (4); Sahal Abdul Samad (3); Rahul KP, Apostolos Giannou (2); Marko Leskovic, Sandeep Singh, Harmanjot Khabra (1).
Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters: Most clean sheets this season
Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (4 clean sheets in 17 games)
Kerala Blasters: Prabhsukhan Gill (4 clean sheets in 15 games)
Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters: More stats and numbers you need to know before the 2022-23 ISL clash
Most touches: Adrian Luna (1166 touches in 17 games)
Most passes: Adrian Luna (685 passes in 17 games)
Most saves: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (45 saves in 17 games)
Most tackles: Ivan Kaliuzhnyi (31 in 15 games)