ISL 2023-24: Jamshedpur FC and Hyderabad FC Search for First Win of Season 10 – News18

Jamshedpur FC will host Hyderabad FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on October 5, Thursday, as both teams seek their first win of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 season. The two sides were the League Winners Shield and ISL finals champions from 2021-22 respectively. However, they are now in pursuit of resurrecting their fortunes after significant overhauls in their rosters.

What’s at stake?

Jamshedpur FC

The Red Miners have struggled to form consistent attacking patterns. They have been fairly solid defensively, conceding only once in two games, but need to bring in more strength in their offensive moves to trouble the opposition’s backline.

Hyderabad FC

Hyderabad FC started their campaign strongly as Hitesh Sharma put them ahead in the eighth minute against East Bengal FC. However, they were undone by Cleiton Silva’s incredible brace and will be edging to bounce back and secure a win against a Jamshedpur unit that has not found its feet yet in the tournament.

Key Players to Watch Out

Seiminlen Doungel (Jamshedpur FC)

The Jamshedpur FC winger came close to putting his side ahead with a firm header in the last match. His tearaway pace, ball control, and shooting ability helps him emerge as a promising prospect in the home team’s frontline.

Hitesh Sharma (Hyderabad FC)

Hitesh completed an impressive 33 passes with 81% accuracy in merely 62 minutes in the last match. He demonstrated quick footedness and impressive awareness inside the box to notch the goal and it will be interesting to watch if he can lock in similar performances on a more consistent basis.

Head-to-Head

Played – 8

Jamshedpur FC – 3

Hyderabad FC – 1

Draws – 4

Trivia: Jamshedpur FC goalkeeper TP Rehenesh has saved an incredible 83% of the shots that he has faced in two games so far this campaign.

Team Talk

“We can think two things about the game – the performance and the result. We are in the results business but we can take a lot of positives from the way we played in the last game, in the way we pressed and we kept the ball. Maybe we didn’t deserve to draw the game. But, that’s a part of football, maybe we have to take that on the chin and move forward,” Jamshedpur FC interim head coach Scott Cooper reflected on their 0-1 loss to Kerala Blasters FC in their last match.

“The best preparation we have had for this game is the fact that we got to play on Saturday. The difficulty we had on Saturday was that we played a team that had played a competitive ISL game already. It’s a big advantage to have that first game under your belt. Our preparation now is a lot better because we have got one game under our belt already and it’s a good step for tomorrow’s match,” Hyderabad FC head coach Conor Nestor said, fancying his team’s chances for the coming game.