Reigning Indian Super League (ISL) champions Hyderabad FC (HFC) go up against former Champions Bengaluru FC (BFC) in the second semi-final of the Durand Cup, at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) on Thursday. There is little to choose between the two teams on the evidence available in this Durand Cup edition and that is what makes picking a winner a tricky proposition. The ISL champs did look flawless till Army Red beat them in an inconsequential final group league match and then Rajasthan United FC also gave them a stiff challenge in the quarter-finals, before succumbing to their overall quality.
BFC too have had stops and starts in their campaign and scraped through a 10-man Odisha FC in the quarter-finals, with the last touch winner from Roy Krishna following a monumental blunder by the Juggernaut’s keeper in the dying seconds.
Both teams have also scored an identical 11 goals in the five games so far with HFC conceding three, while BFC have let in five. What also gives HFC the slight edge is that they have had seven scorers so far with Bart Ogbeche leading the lines with five strikes. The Blues on the other hand have majorly relied on their striking trio of talismans Sunil Chhetri, Roy Krishna and the pair’s understudy Siva Sakthi for their goals.