The Hero Indian Super League kicks off with a clash between arch rivals and Season 3 champions ATK and runners-up Kerala Blasters FC at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on November 17, 2017.
The clash between the two-time champions ATK and Kerala Blasters FC in the opener will also bring the seasoned rivalry between Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov from Europe to Indian soil.
Hero ISL 2017-18 will see 10 teams in action this season, with the addition of Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC, which will result in a prolonged season lasting four months for the first time.
For NorthEast United FC, the campaign begins on Day 2 with a home match in Guwahati against new entrant Jamshedpur FC. The later will be led by spiderman Subrata Paul who earlier manned the goal posts for the Northeast club.
Football Sports Development Ltd., a joint venture between IMG, Reliance Industries and Star India, announced the match schedule of the power-packed ISL season 4 on Friday featuring 95 matches.
All 10 teams play each other in a home-and-away format in 90 games before the two-legged semi-finals which are scheduled to take place in the second week of March. Date and venue for the Final of the 2017-18 season will be announced later. All league matches to be played from Wednesday to Saturday will kick off at 8 PM (IST) with Sunday featuring double headers at 5:30 PM and 8 PM (IST).
The scheduled for NorthEast United FC is as under:
- November 18 – Vs Jamshedpur FC – Guwahati
- November 23 – Vs Chennaiyin FC – Chennai
- December 2 – Vs Delhi Dynamos – New Delhi
- December 8 – Vs Bengaluru FC – Guwahati
- December 15 – Vs Kerala Blasters – Kochi
- December 20 – Vs Mumbai City FC – Guwahati
- December 30 – Vs FC Pune City – Pune
- January 6 – Vs FC Goa – Guwahati
- January 12 – Vs ATK – Guwahati
- January 19 – Vs Chennaiyin FC – Guwahati
- January 26 – Vs Bengaluru FC – Bengaluru
- February 4 –Vs FC Goa – Goa
- February 7 – Vs FC Pune City – Guwahati
- February 10 – Vs Jamshedpur FC – Jamshedpur
- February 14 – Vs Delhi Dynamos FC – Guwahati
- February 17 – Vs Kerala Blasters – Guwahati
- February 22 – Vs Mumbai City FC – Mumbai
- March 4 – Vs ATK – Kolkata
The 10 clubs have collectively spent Rs 132.75 crores in signing 77 international and 166 domestic players. Unlike previous seasons, the maximum number of foreign players in the playing XI has been reduced from six to five from this season onwards.
Here’s the full fixtures:
