U.P. Yoddhas, owned by the GMR Group, take on Puneri Paltan in match 58 of Pro Kabaddi Season 9 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Friday.

The Yoddhas returned to winning ways with a 43-24 win against Telugu Titans in their recent outing while Puneri Paltan moved to the second spot on the PKL 9 standings with a 43-38 win against defending champions Dabang Delhi K.C.

Players to watch out for - U.P. Yoddhas

Surender Gill (13 raid points) was on song against Telugu Titans in his last outing and will be tasked with getting maximum points against free-scoring Puneri Paltan.

Ashu Singh is U.P. Yoddhas' top defender this term with 26 tackle points. While the raiders have been slightly inconsistent, Ashu has remained on top of his game and will look to deny the likes of Mohit Goyat and Akash Shinde from grabbing raid points.

Players to watch out for - Puneri Paltan

Besides the injured Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat has tallied the most raid points for Puneri Paltan (67) and will be their player to watch in the fixture.

In defence, Puneri Paltan will rely on the strengths of Fazel Atrachali (22 tackle points) to restrict Surender Gill and Pardeep Narwal from grabbing maximum points.

U.P. Yoddhas vs Puneri Paltan | Head-to-Head

U.P. Yoddhas and Puneri Paltan have faced each other eight times, with the Yoddhas dominating the head-to-head with five wins. Puneri Paltan, meanwhile, have claimed three victories.

In PKL 8, the two teams met thrice with U.P Yoddhas winning two meetings. The Yoddhas claimed a 50-40 win the first time, lost the second tie by a score of 38-44 and registered a 42-31 in the recent clash - the first eliminator.

Recent form

U.P. Yoddhas: W, L, W, L, W

Puneri Paltan: W, D, W, W, W