Currently in a precarious situation, Kolkata Knight Riders cannot afford to drop any more points over the coming weeks to avoid plunging down the ladder. Their last game saw them fall to defeat at the hands of the imperious RCB by eight wickets. They wont feel too disheartened by the result given the stature of opposition they were up against. But KKR will need to up the ante this weekend, as they are taking on a much stronger team in DC. Shubman Gill and Eoin Morgan have been the cream of the crop for KKR, scoring the most runs this term. In the previous match, the bowlers had the herculean task of defending a massive 85 runs but couldnt manage that feat. Adding Lockie Ferguson to the bowling unit has worked wonders for KKR as he has quickly formed a decent partnership with Pat Cummins, Andre Russell and Shivam Mavi in the team.
At the end of the last season, Valencia changed two coaches and eventually slipped to ninth place, leaving their fans without even the Europa League. In the summer the team sold out 60 million players and on July 27 signed Javi Garcia, to whom an unlimited number of talented youth were given. Calling the start of the new championship a successful one does not raise a hand. They have two wins and a draw in six matches and 13th place after today’s opponent. The last two matches the “orange” lost to “Betis” (0:2) and “Villarreal” (1:2), for which we gave a forecast. Kondogbia and Mangal will not be able to take part in today’s duel.