The Indian football team will fight it out against Bangladesh in their third fixture of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata on October 15.
The Men in Blue who rallied to hold Asian champions Qatar in the previous fixture of the qualifiers will be high on confidence whereas the Red and Green brigade who suffered a loss at the hands of Qatar last week will be looking forward to bounce back and stay on the race of a World Cup berth.
Preview, Prediction and Schedule
The Blue Tigers lost their first encounter of the qualifiers against Oman which was a close affair. They then drew first blood in the match as Sunil Chhetri scored the goal but at the dying end of the match conceded two goals which cost them the match.
The fitness of the players has raised many questions as the footballers donning the blue jersey of Team India were left panting as they could not match up to to the pace of the strikers of Oman in the final quarter of the match.
In the second fixture of the qualifier, the Indian team achieved a historic feat by holding a much higher ranked Qatar side to a goalless draw. But their over-dependency on Chhetri came out into the open as the Indian captain was out of the match which resulted in a much lesser number of chances created in front of the goal.
In the fixture against Bangladesh, the Men in Blue suffered a huge blow as defender Sandesh Jhingan has been ruled out of the match due to an injury but the positive thing for Team India is that Sunil Chhetri is back in the line-up.
Head coach Igor Stimac will look forward to a better performance from the team in the final quarter of the match during which the Indian players have faltered gifting away matches in recent times.
India are currently fourth on the table and if they want to qualify for the next stage of the qualifiers then they definitely have to win this fixture.
On the other hand, the Bangladeshi team lost 2-0 to Qatar last week but showed some promise in certain periods of the fixture. They knocked the doors of the Qatar defence a few times with their fast moves and did not let the defenders of the Asian champions enjoy a light day at the office.
The Red and Green brigade have the ability to produce an upset and they will definitely want to register their first victory of the qualifiers.
The Blue Tigers are definitely the favourite to win the match at home with a 60,000 plus crowd backing them at the Salt Lake stadium.
Moreover, on paper also the Indian team are a much superior side. But Bangladesh can definitely produce an upset and put an end to the World Cup hopes of the hosts. The result of the match will probably be 3-0 in favour of India.
The India-Bangladesh match will start at 7.30 PM IST on October 15.
TV Listings, Live Streaming and where to watch in India
The match will be broadcast by the Star Group in India. The fans will be able to see the match live on Star Sports 3 and live streaming will be available on Hotstar.
