Newly-revamped sides, Odisha FC and Hyderabad FC will battle for supremacy when they lock horns with each other in the fourth game of the 2020/21 Indian Super League (ISL) on Monday. Both Odisha FC and Hyderabad FC come into this game on the back of an impressive pre-season but a dismal previous season.
Odisha FC, also known as the Juggernauts, finished 6th in the 2019/20 ISL edition. Hyderabad FC, also known as the Nizams, finished rock bottom of the league. The Nizams managed to win just 2 games in the entire season and never managed to keep a clean sheet.
With everything being said, it also has to be noted that the 2020/21 season will only be the second season for both the clubs as they came into existence in 2019. Odisha FC are the renamed version of erstwhile Delhi Dynamos FC after moving to the city of Bhubaneswar in 2019, courtesy a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Odisha. Hyderabad FC purchased the franchise rights of erstwhile club FC Pune City, who have now ceased to exist.
Odisha FC have focused a lot on grooming a balanced team. The likes of Shubham Sarangi, Nandha Kumar, Samuel Lalmuanpuia, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Saurabh Meher, Hendry Antonay and Gaurav Bora provide a large youthful impetus to Odisha FC to complement the heavyweight names like Steven Taylor, Marcelinho Pereira and Manuel Onwu.
Interestingly, Odisha FC's top scorer for the previous season, Aridane Santana has moved to Hyderabad FC while the latter's top scorer Marcelinho has switched sides to Odisha FC.
Hyderabad FC may not have the youthful brigade in the squad like Odisha FC, but Manuel Marquez's side has certainly improved from a disastrous last season. With Aridane Santana upfront, scoring games will not be a problem for the side.
They have a decent Indian line-up comprising the likes of Nikhil Poojary, Liston Colaco, Rohit Danu, Souvik Chakrabarti, Hitesh Sharma, Laldanmawia Ralte, Adil Khan, and Chinglensana Singh among others. It provides a perfect mismatch of experience and youth in the Indian department. New foreigners like Fran Sandaza, Joel Chianese, Jacob Tratt, Lluis Sastre, Joao Victor and Odei Onaindia also possess impressive resumes.
Odisha FC vs Hyderabad FC - All you need to know
Odisha FC and Hyderabad FC are only in their second season as a football club. They have faced each other on two occasions in the 2019/20 ISL. Odisha FC have a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head stats as the Juggernauts won both the games with 2-1 and 3-2 scorelines.
Results of last two ISL matches between Odisha FC vs Hyderabad FC
Odisha FC 2-1 Hyderabad FC
Hyderabad FC 2-3 Odisha FC
Top 3 goalscorers from last season
Odisha FC - Aridane Santana (9), Manuel Onwu (7), Xisco Hernandez (5)
Hyderabad FC - Marcelinho (7), Bobo (5), Liston Colaco (2)
Most clean sheets from last season
Odisha FC - 4
Hyderabad FC - 0