Bengaluru FC opens their 2024 Durand Cup campaign against the Indian Navy Football team at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
BEN vs IAN Match Details
Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Time: 19:00 (IST)
Venue: Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
BEN vs IAN Match Preview
Bengaluru FC failed to reach the playoff stage despite the best efforts put in by coach Gerard Zaragoza taking over from Simon Grayson. The Blues entered the ISL final last year but their performance in the previous season was below par managing just five wins from 22 matches. The team has tried to rejuvenate itself with star-studded signing this summer for a better campaign ahead. As always, the Durand Cup will be a great warm-up competition to get the side aligned with the coach’s tactics for the ISL set to begin in a couple of months. Bengaluru FC are placed in Group B with the newly promoted team Mohammedan SC, Inter Kashi guided by the recent ISL Shield winning coach Antonio Habas and the Indian Navy force team. Zaragoza’s team will begin the competition against the latter, the lighter prospect among the other oppositioṇ, hoping for a winning start to a promising season ahead.
The Indian Navy side having players with top-league experience will want to create an upset in the group. They experienced a humiliating group stage exit last time, collecting no wins and scoring just one while conceding seven. The team will want to avoid having a repeat of it although another tough group awaits them. The 2022 Durand Cup winners are the first opposition for them in the 2024 edition. Bengaluru FC missed out on the knockouts for just a point last time with a reserve side, making the battle tougher for the Indian Navy this year. The Blues are one of the favourites for the tournament besides the Kolkata giants and other ISL teams that are fielding its senior squad. The Army side will wish not to finish at the bottom of the pile.
BEN vs IAN Predicted Lineups
Bengaluru
Gurpreet; Poojary, Bheke, Jovanović, Roshan; Patre, Suresh, Noguera; Danu, Diaz, Chhetri
Indian Navy
Vishnu VK; Harikrishna, Sagayaraj, Shahir, Raman Rai; Britto, Navjot Singh, Pradeesh, Pintu Mahata; Sreyas V.G, Bibake Thapa
BEN vs IAN Dream11 Match Prediction
Bengaluru should be comfortable winners against the Indian Navy to start their Durand Cup 2024 campaign with a bang. We predict a 2-0 win for the Blues.
BEN vs IAN Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Sunil Chhetri
Vice-captain Pick: Jorge Diaz, Alberto Noguera
BEN vs IAN Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Vishnu VK (Cr - 7)
DEF: Poojary (Cr - 8), Bheke (Cr - 9), Sagayaraj (Cr - 8), Roshan (Cr - 8.5)
MID: Britto (Cr - 8.5), Suresh (Cr - 9), Noguera (Cr - 8)
FW: Thapa (Cr - 8), Diaz (Cr - 8.5), Chhetri (Cr - 9)
Vice-captain: Jorge Diaz
Captain: Sunil Chhetri
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
