ISL | Desperate Kerala Blasters hosts a resurgent Punjab

Kerala Blasters endured one of its worst starts to an ISL season with four consecutive losses. However, a stoppage-time equaliser by Muhammed Ajsal snapped the losing streak in an away encounter against East Bengal.

KBFC will hope to revive its faltering campaign when it hosts Punjab FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. The Kochi outfit has struggled to be incisive upfront, failing to score a goal in open play. The lack of a good playmaker and a porous defence has compounded the problems.

The midtable troopers, Punjab FC, started with a loss to Jamshedpur FC but have been on a path of resurgence since then, beating Bengaluru FC and drawing with NorthEast United and FC Goa.

“Punjab is very compact in defence and has shown that it is difficult to make a comeback when it scores first. We will do our best to control the game. We have to improve our defence and show the same attitude and energy which we displayed against East Bengal,’’ said KBFC coach David Catala.

The visitor will be missing its key striker, Effiong Nsungusi, who received a red card in the last match against FC Goa. The Nigerian had netted all four goals PFC scored this season. Brazilian defender Pablo Santos is nursing a hamstring injury and is a doubtful starter, which will force coach Panagiotis Dilmperis to rejig his squad. Dilmperis downplayed Nsungusi’s absence and said his team was well prepared to face a rejuvenated Kerala Blasters side.