Indian Super League: Blasters and Mumbai will look to put their indifferent starts to the season behind them

After starting the Indian Super League (ISL) football season with two games away, Kerala Blasters has come home and takes on Mumbai FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.

After the 1-4 defeat to NorthEast United in the last game at Guwahati, the Blasters should hope to come with an improved performance. They began their campaign on a promising note though, beating Inter Kashi 2-0 at Pune.

Blasters’ coach Ashley Westwood is expecting a tough game against Mumbai. “Mumbai haven’t earned as many points as their performances and statistics suggest they should have,” he said.

“They are underperforming in terms of results, and their performances indicate that they’re better than their league position might suggest. They have good players, including several regular national-team players. They have quality foreign players too, a good manager and a strong club. So we are expecting a difficult match.”

Mumbai City has arrived in Kochi after losing 1-2 to Churchill Brothers and drawing 1-1 with Punjab FC.

Westwood said Blasters need to improve every day. “If we do that, we are doing our jobs correctly,” he said. “We can’t expect miracles, but we can expect daily improvement, hard work, determination and a genuine desire to win.”