ISL: Northeast United FC take on struggling Kerala Blasters FC at home

The Yellow Army had a stellar first half of the campaign that put them in a strong position to finish in the top six. Head coach Ivan Vukomanovic has now taken the club into the playoffs in all three seasons that he has been at the helm.

With three losses and a draw in their last five matches, they have dropped 11 points out of a possible 15. They lost to East Bengal FC by 4-2 in Kochi in their previous encounter. On the other hand, the Highlanders are in the penultimate spot with 20 points but still have nine of them to play for in the remaining three games.

Realistically, they still can qualify for the playoffs, and that hope should keep them going especially against an out-of-form Kerala Blasters FC. However, they were handed a 4-1 humbling by Mumbai City FC in their last game, and it will be interesting to see the road to recovery that the Highlanders undertake to bounce back from that loss.

NorthEast United FC is winless in its last five meetings with Kerala Blasters FC, having drawn twice and lost thrice in the process. The Highlanders have a longer such winless streak only against Hyderabad FC (9) and Mumbai City FC (6) in the competition. They have not won any of their last three games in the ISL, losing twice on a trot in fact.

Kerala Blasters FC drew once and lost thrice in the team's last four ISL clashes. The last time they went on a longer winless streak was 11 games from January to November 2021. They have not kept a clean sheet in their last eight matches, and failing to do so once again will result in their longest such run in the competition's history.

"It's important to win and not draw. I watched all the goals that we have conceded this season and I think we have dropped 17-18 points so far. If we even got seven of those points, we'd be fourth now," NorthEast United FC head coach Juan Pedro Benali said before the game as quoted by ISL.

"It's always a very tough away game, far away from Kochi. We will see a couple of new names, a couple of young players who will take their first steps in the ISL from this match," Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic said in the pre-match press conference. (ANI)