Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 15 (ANI): Mumbai City FC will welcome East Bengal FC to the Mumbai Football Arena (MFA) to cap off the Saturday double header of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 on December 16. Both these teams will look to build on their recent results, as the Islanders get back to their home turf for the first time since November 2 in the top tier.
Mumbai City FC are unbeaten in the league so far, with four victories and three draws seeing them at a comfortable fourth spot in the standings. They beat Bengaluru FC by 4-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium last Friday but followed it up with a goalless draw against FC Goa earlier this week. The Islanders are adjusting their strategic movements under Petr Kratky and obviously, things will unfold in the way of the new head coach in due course of time.
However, they will desire to be more enterprising against the Carles Cuadrat-coached side. Mumbai City FC have a free-flowing frontline functioning at the top of their abilities currently. Kratky must arguably not look to disturb that and rather find a way where he can seamlessly synergise his ideas with the way the team is operating at the moment.
For East Bengal, a 5-0 win against North United FC was followed by a 0-0 result against Punjab FC. The Red & Gold Brigade are trained by one of the most seasoned tacticians in the league, and Cuadrat knows what it takes to succeed in this ground, having won the ISL final for Bengaluru FC the venue back in 2018-19.
The Islanders had gone to Goa with the hope of carrying on their momentum from Bengaluru, but they were arguably struck with an equally stern challenge by Manolo Marquez and his men. Neither of the two sides could find a breakthrough as the teams gave it their all, squeezing through every single opportunity or opening to get ahead in the proceedings. It must have made Kratky realise that the tussle for the top of the table spots is much tougher this time around.
Hence, clashes against lower-ranked teams, especially those at home, aren’t opportunities that they should look to settle for anything less than three points.
The 5-0 performance against NorthEast United FC was the biggest win that East Bengal FC have ever recorded in their ISL history. The following match against a winless Punjab FC unit was the ideal opportunity for them to repeat those heroics to get three additional points, but this is where inconsistency came in to hurt them.
East Bengal FC needs to overcome challenges in order to set the ball rolling for what promises to be a fantastic season if they play their cards right. Powered by dynamic wingers and an efficient striker in Cleiton Silva, the Red & Gold Brigade have all the makings of a high-scoring team. They have netted 11 times in eight encounters and must be looking to add exponentially to that tally moving forward, starting from the game against Mumbai City FC. (ANI)
