New Delhi: Now that Punjab FC have gotten out of the starting blocks quickly with back-to-back wins, they would have nothing other than a win on their minds against Hyderabad FC, to complete a hat-trick of victories in the 2024-25 Indian Super League.
Punjab along with Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC are the only three teams that have all-win record after the opening two rounds.
They are third in the standings on goal difference but a high-scoring win on Wednesday could change all that.
Under new coach Panagiotis Dilmperis, they have not done anything fancy but have reaped rewards of being disciplined, though there are areas where they would like to improve.
Starting with the defence line that has conceded in their last six games across competitions, leading to jittery moments at the fag end of matches.
Luka Majcen’s jaw fracture adds more responsibility on new signing Mushaga Bakenga, who is still searching for his maiden ISL goal.
Punjab would need the Norwegian forward to start scoring soon and was backed Dilmperis to deliver on Wednesday, though Nihal Sudeesh and Leon Augustine were on target in their 2-1 home win over Odisha.
Bakenga wouldn’t find a weak opponent than Hyderabad in the league as the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and managed to find a new buyer as late as August.
Hyderabad under new ownership
Without adequate number of players to make a squad, they had to pull out of Durand Cup and as they have only lifted multiple transfer bans after the transfer window they only have free players and a lone foreigner in Cy Goddard.
Though the team has some known faces like veteran midfielder Lenny Rodrigues, forward Abdul Rabeeh and defender Alex Saji but lacks overall quality, which was evident in their 0-3 defeat to Bengaluru in the opening round.
Staying solid at the back proved tough though creating chances was not but taking them was. Coach Thangboi Singto has been at the club through the difficult period of not getting paid for months and struggling to conduct training facilities.
He has emerged from it and would like his boys to be strong and resilient like him.
“We need to create more goal-scoring opportunities and be clinical. The effort from the boys has been good, but we must improve tactically,” Singto said on the eve of the match.
Punjab FC host Hyderabad FC on Wednesday with an eye on three consecutive wins in the 2024-25 ISL Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
