After a terrific start in the Indian Super League, it has all gone a little pear-shaped for the Kerala Blasters. The Sachin Tendulkar-owned team will now want to get back to winning ways when they host the Delhi Dynamos in Kochi on Sunday.
The support the Kerala Blasters get at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is second to none, and that support will be needed to get their team back roaring in front of goal again.
A 3-1 win over NorthEast United FC to open up ISL 2015, was followed by a 0-0 draw at home against Mumbai City FC, before Peter Taylor's men fell to Atletico de Kolkata in that famous game which had the great Pele watching from the stands.
Goals were the problem for the Kerala Blasters last season, and having changed their attacking front for ISL 2015, there were hopes of a better return; however, going by the first three games, it does look like those goals will be hard to come by again, unless the likes of Chris Dagnall and Sanchez Watt find some serious form.
What will help the Kerala Blasters – and the Delhi Dynamos as well – will be the return of the India players of the squad, with the home team welcoming back Sandesh Jhingan and Cavin Lobo, two key players.
"I'm very happy to have them back, especially injury-free after national team duties," Taylor said. "I know Sandesh had a wonderful last season and I'm expecting him to repeat it this season.
"The same goes for Cavin, we had a few friendlies before he flew for international duties and he was playing well. I was disappointed to lose him for three matches.
"But now they're back and I want them to play as well as they can."
The Kerala Blasters will have to play really well as well to beat the Delhi Dynamos, who are on a two-game winning streak, having lost their opening match. Roberto Carlos, who used Robin Singh the first opportunity he got, and to great effect too, has finally found some team-groove, and things seem to be ticking along nicely for the Dynamos, whose last win was an impressive one against the high-flying FC Pune City.
Countering the big crowd in Kochi, Carlos feels, will be the key to beating the Kerala Blasters on Sunday. "They know how to play here, I've been speaking to all the players about how to handle big crowds," the Brazilian legend said. "Most important thing is fighting and to stay motivated.
"I know that 61,000 people will come. I used to love playing in huge stadiums, it would make me crazy to win the game with 61,000 people having fun, celebrating. It's amazing."
Where to Watch Live
Kerala Blasters FC vs Delhi Dynamos FC is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start. These are the channels (if you dare to read all) in India that will show this ISL 2015 Match 15 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, South East Asia, including Singapore and Hong Kong, can watch Kerala Blasters vs Delhi Dynamos live on Star Gold, while audience in Canada can watch the Indian Super League 2015 game live on CBN and ATN.
Eurosport will show the Indian Super League match live in Europe and South East Asia, while the Kerala Blasters vs Delhi Dynamos match can also be live streamed on Eurosport Player. Viewers in Sub Saharan Africa can watch the ISL 2015 game live on Zuku and SuperSport.
Middle East and North Africa viewers will be able to catch the Kerala vs Delhi action live on OSN, with the live streaming option on OSN Play.
Viewers in the US and Australia can watch the ISL 2015 match live on Fox Sports, while the online live stream option is on Foxsoccer2go and Foxtel.
