Kerala Blasters FC and FC Goa go head-to-head in the final fixture of Matchday 16 of ISL 23/24 on Sunday, February 25, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
Both teams are deep in the race for the playoffs, with Goa also in contention for the ISL Shield. However, back-to-back defeats coming into this game must have affected their confidence. After losing 0-1 to Mohun Bagan Super Giant FC last week, they were beaten 0-2 at home by NorthEast United FC on Wednesday, and that's a hard result to recover from.
The hosts are in even worse form, suffering a hat-trick of defeats heading into this one, with the most recent of them a 0-1 away defeat at the hands of Chennaiyin FC. While their spot in the playoffs is pretty safe, with sixth place and the other teams well behind them, they need to start winning games again.
Squads to choose from
Kerala Blasters FC
Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh, Lara Sharma, Mohd. Arbaz, and Sachin Suresh.
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Milos Drincic, Marko Leskovic, Ruivah Hormipam, Prabir Das, Sandeep Singh, N Huidrom-Singh, and Aibanbha Dohling.
Midfielders: Adrian Luna, Danish Farooq-Bhat, Jeakson Singh, Freddy Lallawmawma, Mohammed Azhar, Sukham Meitei, Vibin Mohanan, Bryce Miranda, Nihal Sudeesh, and Saurav Mandal.
Forwards: Daisuke Sakai, Dimitris Diamantakos, Ishan Pandita, Rahul KP, Bidyashagar Singh, Kwame Peprah, and Mohammed Aimen.
FC Goa
Goalkeepers: Dheeraj Singh, Arshdeep Singh, and Hrithik Tiwari.
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Odei Onaindia, Seriton Fernandes, Narayan Das, Sanson Pereira, Jay Gupta, Saviour Gama, and Leander D'Cunha.
Midfielders: Carl McHugh, Brandon Fernandes, Rowllin Borges, Noah Wail-Sadaoui, Raynier Fernandes, Paulo Retre, Muhammed Valiyattil, Boris Thangjam, Brison Deuben Fernandes, and Ayush Chhetri.
Forwards: Udanta Singh, Carlos Martinez Devendra Murgaonkar, and Victor Rodriguez.
Kerala Blasters vs FC Goa: Predicted playing XIs
Kerala Blasters FC
Karanjit Singh (GK), Sandeep Singh, Marko Leskovic, Naocha Singh, Pritam Kotal, Jeakson Singh, Danish Farooq, Daisuke Sakai, Mohammed Aimen, Fedor Cernych, and Emmanuel Justine.
FC Goa
Arshdeep Singh (GK), Seriton Fernandes, Odei Onaindia, Carl McHugh, Jay Gupta, Rowllin Borges, Raynier Fernandes, Brandon Fernandes, Noah Sadaoui, Mohammad Yasir, and Carlos Martinez.
Kerala Blasters vs FC Goa: Match details
Match: Kerala Blasters FC vs FC Goa
Date: February 25, 2024; 7:30 pm IST
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi.
Kerala Blasters vs FC Goa: Dream11 fantasy suggestions
The last meeting between these sides ended in a narrow 1-0 win for FC Goa. But considering their recent defeats and injuries, there could be more goals in this one. With both teams in the top half of the table and yet not in good form, there is plenty of quality in this match from a Dream11 perspective, but it is not easy picking any one player to go with.
Attackers like Carlos Martinez, Noah Sadoui, and Daisuke Sakai are must-haves, and so are Danish Farooq and Jay Gupta. The Kerala strikers could be great differentials, with Fedor Cernych in particular even making a decent captaincy option.
Fantasy Suggestion #1: Karanjit Singh, Pritam Kotal, Jay Gupta, Marko Leskovic, Brandon Fernandes, Rowwlin Borges, Carl McHugh, Danish Farooq, Daisuke Sakai, Noah Sadoui, and Carlos Martinez.
Captain: Carlos Martinez. Vice-captain: Daisuke Sakai.
Fantasy Suggestion #2: Arshdeep Singh, Pritam Kotal, Naocha Singh, Odei Onaindia, Jay Gupta, Brandon Fernandes, Danish Faroo, Daisuke Sakai, Fedor Cernych, Noah Sadoui, and Carlos Martinez.
Captain: Noah Sadaoui. Vice-captain: Fedor Cernych.