ATK Mohun Bagan will be looking to rise to the summit of the 2020-21 Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) standings by getting the better of Jamshedpur FC at the Fatorda Stadium on Sunday. The Mariners will go past current leaders Mumbai City FC if they win, with the latter slated to be in action 24 hours later.

Antonio Lopez Habas’ men have been in fine form of late and will head into the contest on the back of three successive wins during which they’ve found the back of the net on nine occasions. The addition of Marcelo Pereira seems to have given the Kolkata giants an extra attacking edge with the Brazilian netting twice since joining the club in the winter transfer window, including a stunning freekick last time around.

He along with Roy Krishna, David Williams and Manvir Singh make for an exciting and clinical front force as Bengaluru FC found out in the Mariners’ last game. Defensively, Habas’ men have the best record in the league having conceded just 10 goals all campaign so far. The addition of Lenny Rodrigues in midfield has also added to their defensive solidity.

"The team currently has a lot of confidence. Now we have to win the last four matches to increase our possibility to win the league stages. This is our idea. We have to focus on the next opponent. Jamshedpur have good players in defence, midfielder and in attack. We have to play this match like it is the last. The match will be hard," Habas said ahead of the game.

Meanwhile, Jamshedpur won’t be afraid of the ATK Mohun Bagan challenge and instead will back themselves to overcome the Mariners having beaten them earlier in the campaign. Owen Coyle’s men will be eager for a repeat of that performance as they look to build on the 1-0 triumph over Chennaiyin FC in their last outing.

Jamshedpur will head into the match knowing that they must win to maintain the pressure in the race for a top four spot, which at the moment may look like a stretch. However, three wins, starting with one against ATK Mohun Bagan, will put them in the reckoning for a semis spot.

They will be hoping that their top-scorer with eight goals Nerijus Valskis will be back for the game after missing out with an injury in their last match. The Lithuanian bagged a brace the last time Jamshedpur faced ATK Mohun Bagan and will undoubtedly have a big role to play come Sunday. He along with David Grande, who was involved in Jamshedpur’s winner against Chennaiyin in their last game, will be the club’s biggest attacking threats.  

"When you enter the business end of the league, you want to play against the best teams and the best players. We are playing against a very good side, a side we know well. It is a game we are looking forward to. We want to make sure that we beat them again because if we do that, it keeps the pressure on the teams above us. That is something we want to do. We have to take six points from the last nine. We have shown a lot of character to come back from the three losses earlier in the season and now what we have to do is keep picking up points," Coyle said ahead of the match.

Squads:

ATK Mohun Bagan

Goalkeepers: Arindam Bhattacharja, Avilash Paul, Arsh Shaikh, Surajit Pramanik

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

Midfielders: Pronay Halder, Javier Hernandez, Edu Garcia, Carl McHugh, Lenny Rodrigues, Jayesh Rane, Regin Michael, Sahil Sheikh, N Engson Singh, Samuel Lalmuanpuia

Forwards: David Williams, Roy Krishna, Manvir Singh, Md. Fardin Ali Molla, Komal Thatal, Marcelo Pereira

Jamshedpur FC

Goalkeepers: Pawan Kumar, Niraj Kumar, TP Rehenesh, Raj Mahato, Vishal Yadav

Defenders: Narender Gahlot, Joyner Lourenco, Ricky Lallawmawma, Sandip Mandi, Laldinliana Renthlei, Karan Amin, Peter Hartley, Stephen Eze, Subhash Barua, Manash Protim Gogoi, Boris Singh

Midfielders: Aitor Monroy, Alexandre Lima, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Mohammad Mobashir, Jitendra Singh, Gaurab, Manisana Singh, Harsha Parui, Gorachand Mamdi, Billu Teli, Seiminlen Doungel

Forwards: Nerijus Valskis, William Lalnunfela, Nicholas Fitzgerald, David Grande, Sapam Kennedy, Bhupender Singh, Aniket Jadhav, Farukh Choudhary

Live Broadcast Schedule:

Hero ISL 2020-21 Match 94: ATK Mohun Bagan vs Jamshedpur FC

Date: February 14 (Sunday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV