Kerala Blasters FC vs Punjab FC Prediction: Kerala are favourites to win

Kerala Blasters FC draws with Punjab FC on the first gameweek of Indian Super League in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Kerala are favourites to win this game of football. Who will win when the clock ticks 90?

Kerala Blasters will be disappointed to bow out of the Durand Cup so early, given the fact that it was a good chance for them to try and win their first big trophy. The focus now shifts to the ISL, where they want to give good performances and try to win some silverware. With a competitive squad, the Blasters will be ready to prove themselves this season.

Head coach Mikael Stahre will want a good start, as he works his way of growing Kerala Blasters and achieving success with them. One of the main worries going into their clash with Punjab FC will be Kerala's defense, that will be put to the sword by the strong attacking lineup of Punjab FC. There is a question about the balance in the squad, with doubts being raised over whether the defense is good enough to handle some high-quality opponents.

The Blasters have to play solid football, co-ordinated at the back, in order to conter well against Punjab's attacking threats. A win in their season opener would be a perfect start into the campaign and set the tone for the challenges ahead.

Sachin Suresh (GK); Aibanbha Dohling, Horimipam Ruivah, Milos Drincic, Muhammad Saheef; Freddy Lallawmawma, Danish Farooq; Adrian Luna, Mohammed Aimen, Noah Sadoui; Kwame Peprah

After the exit of Staikos Vergetis, Punjab FC have gone back to Greek hands by naming Panagiotis Dilmperis as their head coach. He will be expected to propel Punjab FC to greater heights after an impressive outing in the transfer market for the club.

Thence, the opening match of the season against the away Kerala Blasters will be hard, but with the new signings and tactic changes of Punjab FC, they might get over it. The team would love to get off to a great start and win all three points, but considering the difficulty in winning away from their home turf against a tough opponent like Kerala, it's a task that is challenging.

Ravi Kumar(GK); Ivan Novoselec, Nikhil Prabhu, Khaiminthang Lhungdim, Vinit Rai; Ashish Pradhan, Filip Mrzljak, Abhishek Singh; Ezequiel Vidal, Nihal Sudeesh, Luka Majcen

The historical trend and recent statistics are bound to prove that the upcoming match would be a win for Kerala Blasters. While Kerala Blasters have won 62 out of 186 matches, Punjab FC has secured just 6 wins out of 22 games.

Also, the probability of over 2.5 total goals from the match is very high. Kerala Blasters scored 22 goals in the last home stats, and Punjab scored 13 goals in the away stats. Considering the goal ratio of Kerala Blasters while playing at home and considering Punjab's away stats, the goal-over 2.5 rate is 72.96%.

In the last 11 games, Kerala Blasters has managed to score 22 goals and has allowed 19. On the other side, Punjab FC has scored 13 while conceding 18. This implies that this match is going to see much scoring, and therefore over 2.5 total match goals would be a decent prediction for this match.