Indian Football: India vs Nepal - Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups, where to watch and more

Igor Stimac's men take on Nepal in an international friendly in Kathmandu today. The Blue Tigers are scheduled to play Nepal in two friendly games in this international break, and they have been preparing for the friendlies in Nepal for the last three days. The first match takes place today i.e 2nd September, and the next match takes place on September 5th.

"This is an excellent opportunity for us to improve as a team. Given the current circumstances, it wasn't easy to get a friendly game. The Nepal federation and government invited us to play, and we thank them for the opportunity and the gesture. Nepal are a very tough side, especially when they play against us, and we are aware of the extreme challenge the two matches present us," Chhetri told the All India Football Federation through the pre-match conference.

Igor Stimach hopes that there are no heavy rain during the match, as weather can spoil the quality of the game. According to the weather forecast rains are predicted, and we hope it's not too heavy.

When is the game?

The match between Nepal and India is scheduled to take place on Thursday, 2 September at the Dasarath Stadium at 4:45 pm Indian Standard Time.

How and where to watch the game?

The friendly match between Nepal vs India international will not be telecasted in India as there are no official broadcasters. However, online streaming will be available on the Indian Football Team's official Facebook page. You can also watch the match here, as we will have a live blog where we will be giving you match-by-match updates.

Predicted Lineups:

The Blue Tigers will be without ace defender Sandesh Jhingan who signed for Croatian team HNK Sibenik, and he is in Croatia undergoing rehab for a leg injury. You can read about India's entire squad here. It will be fascinating to see how India lines up for the match without Sandesh Jhingan in the back line, will he go with a system where he plays three at the back or the system he used against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, which is the 4-2-3-1.

We expect Gurpreet to retain his place as the goalkeeper, then Sana and Bhekke to be the center backs. In the last outing India had some problems finding the suitable right back, and this time he has Akash Mishra. So the defense will comprise Sana, Bhekke, Akash, and Subhashish. Suresh Wangjam, Glan Martins, and Brandon Fernandes to be the midfield, while Manvir, Liston, and Sunil will lead the forward line. The coach might also take more ATKMB and BFC players, as both of the teams played a few matches in the AFC Cup, and the players will be in the matchday zone.

India's predicted starting line-up: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu- Akash Mishra, Rahul Bhekke-Chingslesana Singh, Subhashish Bose- Suresh Wangjam, Glan Martin, Brandon Fernandes- Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, and Sunil Chhetri.

The coach also takes this opportunity to get some young players to get some valuable game time and help them prepare for the upcoming SAFF Cup.