ISL 2024-25: Bengaluru hopes to find first home-win of 2025 as it hosts a struggling Odisha FC
ISL 2024-25: Bengaluru hopes to find first home-win of 2025 as it hosts a struggling Odisha FC
Winless in three matches, Bengaluru FC will be desperate to get its floundering Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 campaign back on track when it meets Odisha FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Wednesday.
After a rousing start and goals galore, Gerard Zaragoza’s men have scored just twice in the previous three outings and conceded in each of their last 11 fixtures. The latest disappointment was the 1-1 draw at last-placed Hyderabad FC.
Though BFC is still third in the table (28 points from 16 matches), only six points separate the second-placed side from the sixth, which means there is likely to be an almighty scrap for playoffs qualification (top-six teams).
BFC, which will miss the services of defender Rahul Bheke and forward Jorge Pereyra Diaz against Odisha, cannot afford more slip-ups.
“Against Jamshedpur FC and Mohammedan SC, we did our job but didn’t finish it,” Zaragoza said on the match-eve about the recent twin defeats which were courtesy of late goals.
“We didn’t start well against Hyderabad and we got punished. Earlier, we converted chances and didn’t make many mistakes. Reality is slightly different now. But we have been in the top two or three since the start of the season and we will continue to fight,” the Spaniard added.
Odisha, which thrashed BFC 4-2 in the reverse fixture in early December, has seen its fortunes nosedive too. Sergio Lobera’s wards have tasted victory in just one of their last six encounters and are coming into the Garden City on the back of a 2-3 defeat away at Kerala Blasters.
But their propensity to play attacking football – matched to an extent by BFC – could result in a free-flowing game.
