Carlos Cuadrat’s Blues will begin the new ISL season on the21st with their first match against Northeast United FC at the Kanteerava Stadium. Having successfully sorted out the issues regarding their home ground, BFC can now turn their focus onto retain the champion’s title yet again this season.

SQUAD:

• A good mixture of experience and youth in the squad
• The departure of Miku might turn out to be crucial
• Have replaced some of their previous substitute players with better quality signings
• In’s: Ashique Kuruniyan (FC Pune City), Manuel Onwu (UCAM Murcia), Raphael Augusto (Chennayin FC), Eugenson Lyngdoh (ATK), Prabsukhan Gill (Indian Arrows), Suresh Wangjam (Indian Arrows)
• Out’s: Miku Fedor (Omonia Nikosia), Xisco Hernandez (Odisha FC), Chencho Gyeltshen (Released), Alex Barrera (Released), Boithang Haokip (East Bengal), Asheer Akhtar (East Bengal), Soram Anganba (NEUFC), Bidyananda Singh (Mumbai City FC), Altamash Sayed (Real Kashmir)

PRE-SEASON RESULTS:

TACTICAL SYSTEM:

• Cuadrat has usually preferred a 4-2-3-1 formation, but this time he might also try out a back 3 system
• Can expect a lot of their attacking play coming through wingplay this season with the presence of Udanta and the arrival of Ashique
• Likely to press high up the field against teams who try to build out from the back

Expected lineup (4-2-3-1): Gurpreet; Bheke- Juanan- Serran- Nishu; Paartalu- Dimas; Udanta- Augusto- Ashique; Chhetri ©

KEY PLAYERS:

1. Sunil Chhetri – ST (#11)

• With Miku having left the team and Manuel Onwu yet to prove himself, the main responsibility of scoring might fall on the BFC skipper
• Have scored 30 goals from 57 appearances across all seasons of ISL
• In spite of predominantly playing from either a withdrawn role or from the left flank for most of his ISL career, he still has the highest number of shots (158) and shots on target (90) in the ISL

2. Raphael Augusto – AM (#12)

• Ex-Chennayin FC midfielder moved to BFC this season
• In spite of Chennayin’s poor performance last time, Augusto was their standout performer and led the table for most tackles (5 per game), most passes (65.56 per game) and most shots (2.06 per game) among all Chennayin FC players
• Also have an impressive overall CBI Index (Clearances, Blocks & Interceptions) of 37 per game in all seasons
• Can linkup well with Paartalu and Dimas to form a formidable and physical partnership in the centre of midfield for BFC
• Most tackles among all players in ISL 2018-19 (5.53 tackles per game)

3. Ashique Kuruniyan – LW (#19)

• Joined BFC this season from FC Pune City for a transfer fee around 70 lakh rupees
• His pace and physicality is likely to trouble most of the opposition fullbacks
• As seen from the data plot below, Ashique averaged almost 4 crosses per 90 mins (much more than the 2.48 crosses per 90 mins of Udanta & 2.4 per 90 mins of Lewis), highlighting the kind of attacking potential he would offer this term
• In addition, the data also indicates his keenness to do the defensive duties as well (15 challenges per 90 mins & 4.62 recovered balls per 90 mins), which will bode well with BFC’s counter-pressing system

SEASON PREDICTION:

• Playoff Possibility: Almost Certain
• If they cannot replace Miku’s goalscoring abilities, then it might be a real challenge to retain the title this season

Article from our Football Analyst – Mishal Thanveer.