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Football

Match Preview: Hyderabad FC vs NorthEast United FC

After an exciting six-goal thriller in Pune, Hyderabad FC will return to action on Thursday when they face Marco Balbul’s NorthEast United in what promises to be another high-octane Hero Indian Super League battle at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.

Hyderabad earned a draw in their season opener against Mumbai City FC, while the Highlanders suffered a harsh loss to Bengaluru FC in their first encounter.

hydfcThe hosts, NorthEast United, had added Michael Jakobsen, Romain Philippoteaux, Jon Gaztaaga, and Matt Derbyshire to a strong core of Indian youths and proved a difficult nut to crack in that encounter, which Bengaluru won by a close 1-0 margin.

And HFC Head Coach Manolo Marquez feels that the Highlanders were unlucky to lose the game. “I don’t think they deserved to lose the game against BFC the other day.  It is not only about the end goal that was disallowed. NorthEast performed extremely well with very dangerous players, like they do every season.”

“NorthEast usually has excellent foreigners and a strong squad. They played incredibly well, and I believe they will be difficult to beat in this game as well,” continued the Spaniard.

Hyderabad, on the other hand, drew 3-3 with Mumbai City, with Joao Victor scoring twice on each side of Halicharan Narzary’s goal. Laxmikant Kattimani, Odei Onaindia, Mohammad Yasir, and Hitesh Sharma were all excellent throughout the game, but a few defensive blunders allowed the Islanders to come back into the game many times.

Manolo, on the other hand, feels his team is ready to leave that result behind them and compete for all three points in this tie.

“It was a fantastic game for the audience. It seemed like Mumbai could score at any time, and the same for us, that we might score at any time. These types of games without control aren’t exactly our thing,” Manolo explained.

“It’s not only about the defensive line; it’s about how we defend as a group. It was only the second occasion since i arrived, that we had surrendered three goals in a game, and we will try to perform better in this game,” he continued.

The Spaniard also disclosed that Akash Mishra, Gurmeet Singh, and Joel Chianese will be rested for this crucial match.

Hyderabad completed the double over the Highlanders last season with an aggregate score of 10-1 over the two fixtures. But up against a fresh-looking NorthEast side, this game promises to be a tough one for the defending Hero ISL Champions.

The game kicks off at 7:30 pm IST on Thursday.

Kajal S

Kajal S

kajal

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