The defending champions Atletico de Kolkata are all set to face Kerala Blasters in their first home game of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2015 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.
Both Kerala Blasters and Atletico de Kolkata have drawn their respective previous matches and also have remained unbeaten so far in ISL 2015.
Pele's presence at the stadium will boost the confidence of the players and they might just play their best football in front of a capacity crowd in Kolkata on Tuesday. One can surely expect a thrilling encounter when the finalists of the ISL 2014 will take on each other.
"Four points in two games in any league at the start is a good result. Draw against the top team is not a bad result. At times draw is what is okay and I think it's a fair result," Kerala Blasters coach Peter Taylor had said after they managed a 1-1 draw against Mumbai City FC in their last game.
Both the teams have a number of absentees in Tuesday's game. The Kerala Blasters will be without the services of their star defender Sandesh Jhingan and Cavin Lobo as both are with the India team. They don't have any injury concerns, though. Mohammed Rafi and Josu Currias might feature in the playing XI, after missing the second match.
On the other hand, issues are just not leaving Atletico de Kolkata head coach Antonio Lopez Habas, as not only does he have to deal with injury woes but also a number of players being away with India.
Ofense Nato, Arnab Mondal and Josemi are notable absentees. Helder Postiga has not yet recovered from his injury and has flown back to Portugal for treatment.
Therefore, skipper Borja Fernandez will play a massive role in midfield for Atletico de Kolkata. Arata Izumi is expected to make a second start in ISL 2015 and should play in the no.10 position, just behind centre-forward Iain Hume.
"All we can do is play our football. I have to recover my team and look forward. We can't sit and cry over players who are injured," Habas told reporters.
"We just have to move on as the tournament will not stop for us. Chennai and Goa were two very tough away fixtures and we got four points. It's pretty good. We hope to do well against the Blasters in our first home game."
Where to watch live:
Get the Live Score and Blog of the match HERE
Read about what's happening ahead of the match and Pele's arrival HERE
Atletico de Kolkata vs Kerala Blasters is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start. OK, hold your breath, these are the channels in India that will show this ISL 2015 Match 10 live -- Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3, Star Utsav, Star Gold (both Hindi), Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jaya Max (Tamil), Suvarna TV (Kannada) and Jalsha Movies (Bengali). The ISL 2015 match can also be watched via live streaming online (free) in India, and over a 100 countries, on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK can watch ISL 2015 Match no 10 between Atletico de Kolkata & Kerala Blasters live on Star Gold, while audience in Canada can watch the Indian Super League 2015 game live on CBN and ATN.
Middle East and North Africa viewers can catch the ISL 2015 action live on OSN, with the live streaming option on OSN Play.
Viewers in the US and Australia can watch Atletico de Kolkata vs Kerala Blasters live on Fox Sports, while the online live stream option is on Foxsoccer2go and Foxtel.
Eurosport will show the Indian Super League match live in Europe and South East Asia, while the Atletico de Kolkata vs Kerala Blasters match can also be live streamed on Eurosport Player. Viewers in Sub Saharan Africa can watch the ISL 2015 action live on Zuku and SuperSport.
