UP Yoddha vs Bengal Warriors Match Prediction: Who will win today's Pro Kabaddi 2017 match?

In Match No. 41 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5, home team, UP Yoddha will clash against the Warriors from Bengal at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow.

Both teams are coming into this encounter on the back of contrasting results, the Yoddhas have lost three consecutive matches at home and will be on the hunt for a much-needed win at least to give the home crowd a reason to cheer for them.

Bengal Warriors played out a 26-26 tie against the Gujarat Fortunegiants back in Ahmedabad and will hence be looking to turn things around and also go the distance.

UP in their last match against the Jaipur Pink Panthers adopted quite a negative brand of kabaddi choosing to play on the third raid and not taking the risk of amassing more points on the attack, which saw them on the losing end eventually.

Live commentary: UP Yoddha vs Bengal Warriors, 22 August 2017

Thus, they will surely look to switch back to the attacking style of play, banking on their front-line raiders, Nitin Tomar and Rishank Devadiga to keep the scoreboard ticking in their favour.

In the defence, veteran Jeeva Kumar will be in-charge of the proceedings and will be supported by the hot-headed all-rounder Rajesh Narwal who has yet to come into his own. One aspect where UP has been edging over all the other teams in the Super Tackles and due credit for this has to be given to the corner defenders Sagar Krishna and Hadi Tajik.

To add more depth to the attack against the Bengal defence, UP could look to include Surender Singh in the scheme of things.

Bengal Warriors akin to UP bank on their two main raiders in the likes of Maninder Singh and Jang Kun Lee to lead the attack for the side and they have done it quite impressively as well. For the third raid, Deepak Narwal has been the go-to man for the Warriors and proved his mettle with 9 points in the ties against Gujarat.

As for the defence, skipper Surjeet has been in form with him blocks from the cover position while Ran Singh has executed some lethal tackles in the corner position. Vinod Kumar, in the capacity of an all-rounder, has given glimpses of his talent and needs to build up on the same against the Yoddhas.

UP Yoddha vs Bengal Warriors match prediction

It will be an evenly matched contest and the key strategy for UP will be to stop the Bengal raiders, Maninder, Deepak and Jang Kun Lee in their tracks while they rely on Rishank and Nitin to tear the defence apart on the opposite shore by targeting the weak links like Shashank Wankhede, Sandeep Malik, etc.

It will not be an easy win to clinch, but if one has to call the game, it would slightly be in favour of Yoddhas, given the fact that they are on the hunt for a desperate victory and will come out all guns blazing.