Bengaluru FC Team News
Bengaluru bounced back after their narrow defeat against ATK by claiming three points against FC Goa and Jamshedpur FC. Sunil Chhetri has scored three goals in their last two matches and a total of eight goals this season.
Midfielder Erik Paartalu is in excellent form for the Blues with two goals and four assists so far and Dimas Delgado leads the chart for most number of passes this season. The good news is that new signing striker Deshorn Brown will be available for selection for the visitors.
When the two teams met earlier this season, it were Mumbai City that edged a five-goal thriller 3-2.
"Mumbai is a team that makes things difficult for us. They are a counter-attacking team. They pump long balls forward. You need to score first. If they score first, then they will wait and go only in counters. So, we will try and score first," Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat said.
He added, "The league situation can change very fast. ATK looked good and now they have lost two matches. Odisha has suddenly started to improve. We have six games to play and if we are in a good dynamic we can be in the playoffs. They are going to try and start on a good note for sure."
Mumbai City FC Team News
Having lost Paulo Machado to a long-term injury, Jorge Costa will look to mix up his options in midfield to find a creative spark that can unlock the difficult defence of Bengaluru. They will rely on their attackers to make amends for their defensive lapses and an end-to-end affair is likely when the teams take the field.
Amine Chermiti and Modou Sougou has six goals combined and the service from the midfield has been sub-par. Costa's team has tried to use the flanks to good effect but overall, Mumbai City's display in their last game against Odisha left a lot to be desired.
"It's true that we lost the last two games. We didn't deserve to lose against ATK and the last game against Odisha was probably our worst game in the one and a half years that I'm here. It's difficult for me. I can't explain what happened in the last game," Mumbai City head coach Jorge Costa said.
Prediction:
While Bengaluru will head into the team as the favourites, Mumbai will hope for a repeat show. The scales are heavily tilted in BFC's favour but Mumbai can secure another turnaround. The last time the two met was in the Blues' fortress and Mumbai won on that occasion, stunning BFC 3-2.
Probable Line-Ups:
Mumbai City FC: Amrinder Singh (GK), Pratik Chaudhari, Mato Grgic, Subhasish Bose, Sarthak Golui, Mohamed Larbi, Rowllin Borges, Raynier Fernandes, Diego Carlos, Amine Chermiti, Modou Sougou
Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Juanan, Harmanjot Khabra, Nishu Kumar, Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, Deshorn Brown, Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh
Match Info:
Match will kick off at 7:30pm IST
Live on Star Sports Network
Live Streaming on Hotstar & Jio TV
Source: ISL Media