India vs Nepal Preview: Igor Stimach's men eye victory in their second friendly; predicted lineups, key players to watch and more

The Indian Football team would have been disappointed with their draw in the last match and would be eying to end their last friendly before the SAFF Cup with a victory. The coach Igor Stimach was happy with the draw and felt the previous match was an evenly contested match and demanded more from his boys.

"The mood is positive and our boys are aware that they can do much better. Of course, we are still short with the energy level because we are just at the end of the second week of preparation, and the legs are still heavy. But, they are looking forward to put in a better performance," said Igor Stimach about the second friendly against Nepal.

"We are going to change a few things, and see if that can help us in terms of passing with more confidence, and getting forward easier." added Igor Stimach.

The team was not clinical enough in front of goal and was saved by a 60th-minute equalizer by Anirudh Thapa after he finished from close range from a shot by captain Sunil Chhetri but was not clear by the Nepal goalkeeper. Anirudh Thapa looked to have got an injury in the match but the coach said he is fit to play on Sunday.

I have been working on my short sprints, especially my start. That allowed me to connect the ball ahead of my marker, and even goalkeeper Kiran-bhai (Kiran Limbu),We were much better in the second half in the first match and wished the match could have continued for some more time for us to find the winner," said Anirudh Thapa on the match against Nepal on Sunday.

Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had a decent game against Nepal but would have wanted a clean sheet, but he expects his team to be more lethal in the match Sunday.

"The last game was a tough one and Nepal were very organized. We had moments where we could have done better as a team, and there were moments where we did get better. We need to make sure that we have a strong mentality going into the second game. We need to make sure that we use it to prepare for the SAFF Championship in good order," said Gurpreet on the match.

Key players to watch- Sunil Chhetri, Anirudh Thapa, Subhashish Bose

How will Indian line up against Nepal?

Our predicted X1 for the second game against Nepal is GSS in goal, the same defensive line as in the previous match and Anirudh Thapa comes in for Suresh Wangjam. The forward line will be led by Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh and Liston Colaco. Chhetri will be the striker with Liston and Manvir on his either sides.

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu- Subhashish Bose, Rahul Bhekke, Chingsana Singh, Akash Mishra- Anirudh Thapa, Glan Martins, Brandon Fernandes- Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and Sunil Chhetri.

The match wont be telecasted on Indian TV Channels, but will be streamed on the Indian Football official facebook page. If you cannot stream the match, we will be covering the match through our live blogs, and will be giving you updates of the match.