Only NorthEast United have lost the first three games of an Indian Super League season, at the beginning of last season, but Kerala Blasters are in danger of sharing the dubious distinction.
As the 2014 finalists look to avoid a third consecutive defeat against an effervescent Delhi Dynamos who opened with a 3-1 thumping of champions Chennaiyin FC, head coach Steve Coppell has asked his team to provide the match winning ingredient in front of their ‘devoted supporters’.
“The team are desperate to do well at home, perhaps a little over eager on occasions,” said the Kerala coach.
“I hope that it will be a more considerate yet energetic performance on Sunday because in these conditions you need more energy than the opposition,” he said.
The hosts will yet again be without marquee Aaron Hughes, who’s away on national duty and the Bengaluru FC duo of Rino Anto and C.K. Vineeth, preparing for the AFC Cup semi-final second-leg with their parent club.
Coppell wants to bring in fresh legs to break the duck after successive 1-0 defeats. “I don’t think there’ll be significant changes but there will be changes. If you think you can improve tailored to the opposition then you have to make changes,” said the Englishman.
Despite a swashbuckling win in Chennaiyin’s backyard, Delhi are wary of a Kerala backlash as their head coach and Italy legend Gianluca Zambrotta believes the hosts are more dangerous than in normal circumstances following a poor start.
“Now is the worst moment to play Kerala because they’ve lost two matches against two good teams and they are very hungry,” said the 2006 World Cup winner.
“We’ve travelled a lot in this week and it will be our second match in four days so the whole team is tired.,” said the 39-year-old former Juventus full-back.
