Odisha FC take on fourth-placed Mumbai City FC at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday with a chance to enter the top four in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 standings up for grabs. Mumbai City will be looking to vanquish the memories of their 4-2 loss to Odisha from earlier this season. However, they will be wary of Odisha’s form at Bhubaneswar, which has seen the hosts win both their previous matches at the Kalinga Stadium.

Odisha FC

Since returning to Bhubaneswar, Odisha FC have found their scoring boots and have registered victories over Jamshedpur FC and Chennaiyin FC. Odisha will look to exploit the wide areas against the Islanders just as they did during their previous win against them in Mumbai.  

Odisha, in fact, have scored seven goals from crosses this season with Jerry Mawihmingthanga, in particular, causing a lot of consternation for opposition defences. His four assists have all come from crosses and three of those assists have been for in-form frontman and Odisha’s top-scorer with six goals, Aridane Santana. Worryingly for the Islanders, Mumbai have conceded six goals from crosses so far, making it an area Odisha can exploit.

Odisha’s defensive record at home has been key to their form in front of their fans as well. They have conceded four goals in five matches at home and 11 goals in six matches away from home. The understanding at the back between Carlos Delgado, Gaurav Bora, Shubham Sarangi and Narayan Das has only gotten better as the league has progressed and Odisha’s head coach Josep Gombau will be hoping that they continue to improve.

Mumbai City FC

Mumbai are yet to be beaten away from home this season and will pose a massive threat from set-pieces against Odisha having netted seven goals from dead ball situations already. Conversely, Odisha are a bit fragile during set-pieces and have conceded three goals from corners – the most by any team this campaign.

Fullbacks Sauvik Chakrabarti and Subhasish Bose can expect to have their hands full against Odisha’s widemen, while Mato Grgic and Sarthak Golui will look to renew their centre-back partnership after the latter missed Mumbai’s last match.

The Islanders though will mostly be expecting a much better display up front after their 2-0 loss to ATK last time around. They will want their forwards Modou Sougou and Amine Chermiti to be less wasteful and have more of an influence on the match than their previous outing. Diego Carlos will need to provide some creativity from midfield, while Rowllin Borges and Mohamed Larbi aim to control the tempo of the contest from the center of the park. The likes of Serge Kevyn, Mohammed Rafique, Bidyananda Singh and Bipin Singh could also have a role to play off the bench, if the Islanders need some inspirations from their substitutes late in the match.

Probable line-ups:

Odisha FC: Francisco Dorronsoro (GK), Gaurav Bora, Shubham Sarangi, Narayan Das, Carlos Delgado, Nandhakumar Sekar, Vinit Rai, Xisco Hernandez, Marcos Tebar, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Aridane Santana

Mumbai City FC: Amrinder Singh (GK), Pratik Chaudhari, Mato Grgic, Subhasish Bose, Sarthak Golui, Rowllin Borges, Mohamed Larbi, Raynier Fernandes, Serge Kevyn, Amine Chermiti, Modou Sougou

Did you know?

• Mumbai are the only team to be unbeaten away from home in Hero ISL 2019-20.
• Odisha have scored just five goals in second half of matches this season – the lowest tally in the division.
• Odisha have scored 10 goals in the first half of matches this season – the highest tally in the division.

Fan Speak:

Which team will finish the match in the top four?

Live Broadcast Schedule:

Hero ISL 2019-20 Match 57: Odisha FC vs Mumbai City FC

Date: January 11 (Saturday)

Time: 7:30 PM onwards

Channels: Star Sports Network

Streaming: Hotstar and Jio TV