Sunil Chhetri and co. eye third place finish in King’s Cup 2019 as they take on hosts Thailand
Kick-off : 2:00 PM IST
Venue : Chang Arena, Buriram
Team India after their poor loss to Curacao in the opening game of the 2019 King’s Cup are now forced to play for the third place. They will need to lift their game if they eye the third place, slip-ups won’t work.
India lost 1-3 to the Caribbean outfit and it must be hurting to Igor Stimac who would have hoped for a winning start. But nonetheless they are on their way up and it’s a process so now all focus must shift on Thailand to defeat them and finish 3rd.
Thailand will pose difficulties but the Asian Cup experience should come in handy to tackle the Southeast Asians.
On the other hand, Thailand themselves were very disappointing in their loss to fellow Southeast Asians in Vietnam but should learn from mistakes and compete against a competitive Indian side.
Thailand lost 0-1 to Vietnam and so must play India. Thailand must look for revenge for the Asian Cup loss knowing India have improved and being very careful.
India are behind in terms of the head to head against Thailand and they will look to improve the record.
Team news and possible line-ups
Thailand are likely going to play the same XI as in the previous game.
As for Team India, they too are likely going to play the same XI as in the previous game.
Thailand XI : K. Thamsatchanan, A. Promrak, P. Hemviboon, T. Bunmathan, S. Thongsong, S. Yooyen, T. Puangchan, T. Kesarat, Do, Sarachat, S. Jaided.
India XI : G.S Sandhu, Kotal, Jhingan, S. Bose, Bheke, Samad, P. Halder, B. Fernandes, U. Singh, Chhetri, L. Chhangte.
Prediction
I think it will be a closely fought contest but India to win 2-1.
