Match 42 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 sees Chennaiyin FC face a strong ATK Mohun Bagan side at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Tuesday. The Marina Machans were held to a 2-2 draw by SC East Bengal in their last game, while the Mariners registered a 1-0 win over Bengaluru FC in their previous encounter.

ATK Mohun Bagan have been very resilient defensively, and Chennaiyin FC will have to make their chances count. The Mariners are yet to concede a goal from open play and their goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja has kept five clean sheets. Their air-tight defence has conceded only three goals in seven matches, and all have been from set-pieces.

At the other end, the Mariners have been equally effective. Although ATK Mohun Bagan have only one goal in the first half, they have scored four goals in the final quarter of the match, which is the most by any team this season. With a low average possession of 45%, the side clearly makes the most of their goal-scoring opportunities.

"We are confident because we are improving. We have a good squad but we have to keep on improving. Chennaiyin, for me, is a favourite for the title because they reached the final in the last season. Now, they are playing well. I have seen all their matches and in two or three of them, they played at a very high level. We respect the players and the coach of Chennaiyin," ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Antonio Lopez Habas said ahead of the game.

Meanwhile, after a slow start in front of goal with just three goals in their first five games, the Marina Machans have nicked four goals in their last two matches. The side’s conversion rate has risen to 7.58 and they have created more goal-scoring opportunities in their last four matches (57) than they did in the first three (30).

Lallianzuala Chhangte was on target for the Marina Machans in their draw against SC East Bengal and the team will hope that the winger can continue his form. After missing a number of chances in previous matches, Chhangte combined brilliantly with Jakub Sylvestr against Robbie Fowler’s men. Sylvestr provided the assist for the second goal as well, however, Chennaiyin would want him to hit the back of the net more often than not.

"Jakub Sylvestr is very different. You can say that he is missing chances but he is always involved in goals. He has been creating chances and given two assists. Isma (Esmael Goncalves) has also missed one or two very good chances. I don't talk about new signings because I am really hoping that Isma comes back physically and mentally stronger,” Chennaiyin head coach Csaba Laszlo discussed their frontline issue with the media ahead of the match.  

ATK Mohun Bagan will go on top with even a draw, and entering the new year as the league leaders is something they will definitely be eyeing. Tough as it may seem, Chennaiyin, on the other hand, will eye nothing less than the full three points in order to breathe some life into their campaign.

Squads:

ATK Mohun Bagan

Goalkeepers: Arindam Bhattacharja, Dheeraj Singh, Avilash Paul, Arsh Shaikh, Aryan Niraj Lamba

Defenders: Tiri, Pritam Kotal, Prabir Das, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Sumit Rathi

Midfielders: Pronay Halder, Bradden Inman, Javier Hernandez, Edu Garcia, Carl McHugh, Glan Martins, Jayesh Rane, Michael Soosairaj, Boris Singh, Regin Michael, Sahil Sheikh, N Engson Singh

Forwards: David Williams, Roy Krishna, Manvir Singh, Md. Fardin Ali Molla

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: Fatkhulo 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 42: ATK Mohun Bagan vs Chennaiyin FC

Date: December 29 (Tuesday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV