In search of their fourth consecutive victory, Mumbai City FC take on Chennaiyin FC in Match 22 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Wednesday. The Marina Machans, on the other hand, will hope to put their loss against Bengaluru FC behind and bring a stop to Mumbai’s three-match winning run this season.

Chennaiyin have the upper hand in terms of their head-to-head record, with the Islanders losing six of 12 matches played between the two sides and winning four. Mumbai have also conceded 16 goals against Chennaiyin but the Marina Machans might find the Islanders’ defences harder to breach this time around with Mumbai City having kept three consecutive clean sheets.

Sergio Lobera’s side are yet to concede a goal from open play this season. The only goal that they gave away was a penalty against NorthEast United FC in their opening fixture. Their goalkeeper Amrinder Singh has a save percentage of 90%, which is the best for a shot-stopper this season.

Sharing his thoughts ahead of the game, Mumbai City head coach Lobera said, “The key to football in balance. We are an attacking team but we need to defend well too and this is important for us because it is not easy to keep three clean sheets but I always think that the best way to defend is to keep the ball.”

Mumbai City FC thrive off possession in the middle of the park. Their Spanish midfielder Hernan Santana has attempted 171 passes and has completed 154 of them with an accuracy of 90%, while Ahmed Jahouh has the most tackles for Mumbai (27).

Among their Indian contingent, Rowllin Borges has been sensational as a box-to-box midfielder. He has made most passes for Mumbai City (271) and also scored a goal in their last match against Odisha FC.

Moreover, the Marina Machans have only scored once in their last four encounters against the Islanders, which is a worrying statistic for them. In more alarming news, Chennaiyin have only scored two goals this season and both against Jamshedpur FC in their opening game.

After a bright start, the Chennaiyin attackers have faded off in their last two games. Jakub Sylvestr is yet to open his account in the Hero ISL having missed a glorious chance from the spot against Kerala Blasters FC. The striker has attempted three shots in three matches which is the fifth best in the team. Esmael Goncalves scored one goal and provided one assist against Jamshedpur but has been quiet since then.

“We will try. We have the abilities to score but we also know the strengths and weaknesses of Mumbai City FC. They are a strong team but we are not weak. We have shown that we can play football and that we can score goals as well. In the last game we lost but this is a new game and I am confident in my team,” Chennaiyin FC head coach Csaba Laszlo said ahead of the game. 

Squads:

Mumbai City FC

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Nishit Shetty, Vikram Singh, Phurba Lachenpa

Defenders: Amey Ranawade, Valpuia, Mourtada Fall, Mehtab Singh, Mandar Rao Dessai, Tondonba Singh, Mohamad Rakip, Sarthak Golui

Midfielders: Ahmed Jahouh, Bidyananda Singh, Bipin Singh, Hernan Santana, Raynier Fernandes, Rowllin Borges, Sourav Das, Hugo Boumous, Cy Goddard, Asif Khan, Farukh Choudhary, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Vikram Partap Singh, Pranjal Bhumij

Forwards: Adam Le Fondre, Bartholomew Ogbeche

Chennaiyin FC

Goalkeepers: Revanth BY, Vishal Kaith, Karanjit Singh, Samik Mitra.

Defenders: Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Enes Sipovic, Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Remi, Balaji Ganesan, Aqib Nawab, Deepak Tangri

Midfielders: Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev, Thoi Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Memo Moura, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rafael Crivellaro, Abhijit Sarkar, Pandiyan Sinivasan, Germanpreet Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Edwin Vanspaul.

Forwards: Jakub Sylvestr, Aman Chetri, Rahim Ali, Esmael Goncalves.

Live Broadcast Schedule:

Hero ISL 2020-21 Match 22: Mumbai City FC vs Chennaiyin FC

Date: December 9 (Wednesday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV