After registering their first win of SAFF Championship 2021 against Nepal, the Indian football team will take on host Maldives in their final round-robin encounter at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives on Wednesday, October 13.
The Blue Tigers once again rode on their talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri, who bagged an important goal to beat Nepal 1-0 and secure three valuable points.
With this win, India moved to third in the SAFF Cup 2021 standings with five points from three games and are a point behind table-toppers Maldives and Nepal, who have six points each from the same number of matches.
Under the tutelage of Igor Stimac, India have struggled to convert their chances in the ongoing tournament and were held by Bangladesh (1-1) and Sri Lanka (0-0) in their opening two matches.
Chhetri’s side now needs to win against Maldives to qualify for the SAFF 2021 final.
Maldives football team, on the other hand, will head into the India fixture high on confidence after they defeated Sri Lanka (1-0) and Bangladesh (2-0) in their last two matches of the campaign. The Red Snappers were earlier beaten by Nepal in their opening encounter of SAFF Cup 2021.
Led by Ali Ashfaq, the hosts are expected to face a tough challenge against India on Wednesday.
India vs Maldives head-to-head record
India hold a superior head-to-head record against Maldives in international football, winning 14 of the 20 matches played between these two teams so far. On the other hand, Maldives have registered four victories while two matches have ended in stalemate.
Indian football team squad for SAFF Championship 2021
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Vishal Kaith
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Seriton Fernandes, Chinglensana Singh, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Mandar Rao Dessai
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lalengmawia, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Jeakson Singh, Glan Martins, Suresh Singh, Liston Colaco, Yasir Mohammad
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary
Maldives football team squad for SAFF Championship 2021
Goalkeepers: Mohammed Faisal, Mohamed Shafeeu, Ali Najih
Defenders: Ahmed Nooman, Hussain Sifau Yoosuf, Haisham Hassan, Akram Abdul Ghanee, Samooh Ali, Gasim Sammaam
Midfielders: Ashad Ali, Ibrahim Aisam, Mohamed Umair, Hussain Nihan, Hamza Mohamed, Ismail Eesa, Ibrahim Waheed Hassan
Forwards: Hassan Raaif Ahmed, Mohamed Naaim, Ibrahim Mahdhy Hussain, Assadhulla Abdulla, Ali Fasir, Ali Ashfaq, Naaiz Hassan, Ali Haisham
Where to watch India vs Maldives SAFF Championship 2021 live in India?
India vs Maldives SAFF Championship 2021 match will be telecast live on Eurosport and its corresponding HD TV channel in India. The match will start at 9:30 PM IST.
Live streaming of India vs Maldives SAFF Championship 2021 match will be available on Discovery+ and JioTV.
Featured photo: Twitter/Indianfootballteam
