Mumbai City FC Team News
The Islanders have scored in each of their last nine games wherein they also remained unbeaten. During this run, Mumbai scored (17 goals) in each of their last 9 matches.
Their defence has also been great. They haven't conceded any goals against the top three teams in the league. And Lobera credited his players, who have given collective performances so far.
"I'm very happy and proud of my players. It's not easy to implement our style of play in a short time," stated Lobera. "If we want to win trophies, the level of our Indian players has to be high throughout the season."
In their previous encounter, Mumbai walked away victorious with a 2-0 win. But Lobera said that this time it will be a difficult game for his side.
Hyderabad's Indian contingent has been impressive in ISL-7 and that's one reason why the club is still in the top half despite their foreign players being inconsistent.
"I'm sure it's going to be a good game. They play a similar style (to ours). They have good Indian players and also very experienced foreign players. It's going to be a different game because they have a full squad now. But the most important thing for us is to focus on our style of play," Lobera said.
Hyderabad FC Team News
Hyderabad coach Manuel Marquez admitted Mumbai was the stronger team and predicted Lobera's side will end up as champions of the normal season.
"Mumbai is of course the strongest team in this league. I continue saying that they will be the champions in the regular season because you know in the play-offs, not always the best team wins."
Marquez said that despite the odds being against them, his team would stick to their style of football. "We can change some details in our game tomorrow but it's important not to lose our style of play. Of course, we have to make some changes in the line-up but it will be a very difficult game," he said.
MCFC Squad
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Vikram Singh, Nishit Shetty, Phurba Lachenpa
Defenders: Mourtada Fall, Mandar Rao Desai, Mehtab Singh, Amey Ranawade, Valpuia, Sarthak Golui, Tondonba Singh, Mohamad Rakip
Midfielders: Ahmed Jahouh, Cy Goddard, Asif Khan, Bidyananda Singh, Hernan Santana, Hugo Boumous, Raynier Fernandes, Rowllin Borges, Sourav Das, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy
Forwards: Adam Le Fondre, Bartholomew Ogbeche, Pranjal Bhumij, Bipin Singh, Farukh Choudhary,Vikram Pratap Singh
HFC Squad
Goalkeepers: Lalbhiakhlua Jongte, Laxmikant Kattimani, Manas Dubey, Subrata Paul
Defenders: Akash Mishra, Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Dimple Bhagat, Nikhil Prabhu, Odej Onaindia, Kynsailang Khongsit, Sahil Panwar
Midfielders: Abhishek Halder, Adil Khan, Sahil Tavora, Halicharan Narzary, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor, Laldanmawia Ralte, Lluis Sastre, Mark Zothanpuia, Mohammed Yasir, Nikhil Poojary, Souvik Chakrabarti, Sweden Fernandes
Forwards: Aridane Santana, Fran Sandaza, Ishan Dey, Joel Chianese, Lalawmpuia, Liston Colaco, Rohit Danu
Match Details
Mumbai City FC vs Hyderabad FC
Venue: GMC Stadium in Bambolim, Goa
Date: Saturday, January 16
Time: 7.30 PM IST
Live Channel: Star Sports Network
Live Stream: Disney+ Hotstar VIP and Jio TV