Hero Indian Super League season 5 will resume on January 25 with arch rivals Kerala Blasters locking horns against the two-time champions ATK.
After a morale-boosting AFC Asian Cup, the Blue Tigers have now returned on the home soil to don their Hero ISL franchise colours, aiming further to win fan’s hearts from across the country.
The opening weekend will also feature other marquee matches including defending champions Chennaiyin FC as NorthEast United FC host them on January 26.
The week will end with a clash between Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC on January 27. All games will begin from 7.30 pm IST and will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network.
The opening three games of the Hero ISL season after the break will see stars from national team — Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Udanta Singh (all Bengaluru FC), Anirudh Thapa (Chennaiyin FC), Rowllin Borges (NorthEast United FC), Subhasish Bose (Mumbai City FC), Pronay Halder (ATK) and many more back in action.
ATK, currently sixth in the table, are just four points away from the third-placed FC Goa. With ATK’s glorious history, the recent acquisition of Edu Garcia and the appointment of former Crystal Palace first team coach and West Bromwich Albion assistant head coach Ben Garner, the team looks to bounce back to chase their third Hero ISL title.
Bengaluru FC narrowly missed out on the Hero ISL title last year and are unbeaten after 11 games. The current standings in the league table also indicates that the league could have a new winner with Bengaluru FC, Mumbai City FC, FC Goa, NorthEast United FC and Jamshedpur FC, all in contention for the playoff spots.
Kerala Blasters in an aim to regain momentum have replaced David James with Nelo Vingada and would look at the game against ATK on January 25 to regain their lost confidence.
Hero ISL 2019 resumes on January 25 and will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network on the following channels:
Star Sports 1/HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi/HD, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Jalsha Movies/HD, Asianet Movies, Raj TV, Colors Kannada Cinema.
The Campaign:
National video:
Malayalam video: