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The second season of eISL is set to start from February 28 with six fixtures scheduled in the inaugural week of the tournament.
The league phase for the upcoming season will be played online, only the eISL playoffs the format which mirrors the ISL playoffs format will be a LAN event in Delhi scheduled for May 6- 7. The league will have total of 62 matches (55 league and 7 playoff) with all matches streamed on the ISL, eISL YouTube handles & club's YouTube handles streaming their respective matches. This year's league begins with a marquee clash between title defenders Chennaiyin FC and last season's runners-up Mumbai City FC in what promises to be an absolute cracker of a game among the two teams. This opening fixture will feature Karman Tikka, facing off against his former team, Mumbai City FC, who haven't retained any players and are now featuring a fresh lineup of players. The opening day of the league will also feature Charanjot Singh & Saransh Jain, who have represented India at the FIFA Global Series last year, going head-to-head alongside their teammates Sagnik Banerji and Emaad Ahmed, respectively, as Bengaluru FC will take on NorthEast United FC. The other opening day fixture will feature East Bengal FC hosting Jamshedpur FC which will see a clash between two retained players Shayantan Mondal & Arvind S respectively. The following day, promises three more entertaining fixtures with FC Goa taking on Kerala Blasters FC, while ATK Mohun Bagan goes head-to-head against Odisha FC. The first week's fixtures will conclude with Hyderabad FC hosting the title defenders Chennaiyin FC providing avid FIFA enthusiasts with plenty of gaming action to look forward to. The second week of the new season will see former Hyderabad players Darvesh and Aditya face-off against each other in fresh colours as FC Goa takes on Jamshedpur FC on March 11. This week will also feature Charanjot Singh, one of India's top-ranked FIFA pros and first-time eISL participant, going head to head against Lokmanyu and Shubham as southern rivals, Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC on March 14. The fixture between Odisha FC and Mumbai City FC on March 22 will also be an interesting tie, as it features two first-time eISL match-ups with both teams finding fresh talent in Nathan Fernandes & Sarvagya Rawat (OFC) and Aditya Chadha & Saksham Rattan (MCFC) from the qualifiers. The all-important Kolkata Derby on the 28 of March will be yet another entertaining fixture as East Bengal FC's ISL returnees Akshat Khandelwal and Shayantan Mondal play host to ATK Mohun Bagan's Afnan and Vignesh. April's first-week clash between Hyderabad FC and Bengaluru FC will see Aman Warsi going up against his former team, who qualified to play with Hyderabad FC in Season 2 of the eISL. The Chennaiyin FC and NorthEast United FC fixture on April 19 promises to be an exciting contest, particularly for fans of ex-Machan Saransh Jain who lifted the coveted eISL trophy with Chennaiyin FC last season. Saransh moved to NorthEast United FC this season and will face his former team with an opportunity to showcase his talent on a new stage, to his new fans this year. The eISL Season 2 league stage campaign will come to a close on April 26 with three exciting fixtures scheduled on that day. Mumbai City FC will face off against Jamshedpur FC, FC Goa will take on NorthEast United FC, and the last and final fixture will be between East Bengal FC and Bengaluru FC. --IANS cs ( 601 Words) 2023-02-22-19:24:02 (IANS)
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