The Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune will host the first ‘Maharashtra Derby’ of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 on Wednesday. Mumbai City FC travel to meet FC Pune City in their second away fixture of the new season and will look to carry on their form from their 2-1 home win against FC Goa. A win would see them displacing Pune from the second position on the league standings table.

Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, Mumbai head coach Alexandre Guimaraes believed that the win in their previous encounter will add greatly to his team’s confidence. “We know that our home game was very important because we have three games away, so the schedule is very tough for us; and we knew that we must do well in our home games. We managed to take the result and now we come here with different confidence. The players are happy [and] confident to come here and continue to try and improve our game. Pune had a fantastic game and they won really well. And as all other teams, we are trying to find the right mix,” he explained.

Pune enters Wednesday’s match on the back of a solid 4-1 win over ATK with their attack already showing glimpses of their lethal class. When asked how he evaluates his opponents, Guimaraes said, “One thing that they [FC Pune City] have done really well is that they have been very precise when they had the chances. When you have this situation, you have to try to not make mistakes because they can punish you. They have tough and good players in front, and we know that we cannot give them an inch.”

A worry for Mumbai this season, however, has been their inability to keep clean sheets, but Guimaraes backed his custodian Amrinder Singh. “He [Singh] did well in the last two games. So, of course, Pune - with the players they have - know that they have to put the ball in impossible places where the keeper cannot reach. It’s like when you play Rafael Nadal. To win, you have to make four winning shots, and maybe the fifth one he won’t reach.”

“In football, you can never say that today you are this, and tomorrow will be exactly the same. If you see, because of the [player] draft, most of the teams didn’t have a chance to maintain at least the main players. This year, we have a completely different mix, and we are trying very hard to do it [fix the issue of conceding goals],” he added.

With no injury concerns other than Leo Costa in the team, Guimaraes stressed why all the teams need to wait to settle down completely. “I think that we still have to wait for some rounds to know and to see what changes in terms of football and in terms of getting opportunities for some players who may not have had the chance to play in the ISL last season. Also, let’s see how many teams have the courage to introduce some young players. After Christmas maybe, in the middle of the tournament, we should know,” he concluded.