Mumbai City FC will host high-flying Bengaluru FC at the Mumbai Football Arena in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 match on Wednesday.
The Blues have a 100 per cent record so far and sitting at the top of the points table. Contrastingly, the Islanders are still chasing their first win of the campaign, having drawn and lost once each in their two games so far.
Petr Kratky’s team has been a formidable force at home, scoring in each of its last eight matches. If it scores against Bengaluru FC, it will equal the club’s longest such run in the league.
Mumbai City FC head coach is working towards fixing his team’s backline to avoid conceding strikes from set-pieces. He has stressed upon getting down to the core of the issue and resolving it for a better outcome against the table toppers.
“We need to get better in the area where it’s hurting us. And we have to stop it as soon as possible because, in two games, we conceded five goals and four goals from set-pieces, which is unacceptable for me,” Kratky said.
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“We have to keep working and keep going. We need to analyse, and identify what’s (going) wrong and have to find why. The ‘why’ is very important. If we know why we’re conceding, why we’re losing, or why we’re not getting the points, then we can figure out what to fix. So, this is our and my first goal.”
On the other hand, Bengaluru FC has scored one-third of its goals in the ISL in 2024 within the first 15 minutes of matches and are absolutely breaming with confidence at the moment. Its 3-0 home thrashing of defending league champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant shows its improvement under Gerard Zaragoza this season.
The Spaniard is pleased with his team’s solid start to the campaign. However, the tactician is aware that other teams will begin catching up as the season progresses, so the Blues can’t afford to go off-guard.
“Let me enjoy. Three games, three wins, and we are happy. But it’s too early. These people (Mohun Bagan SG) will win a lot of matches; Mumbai City FC will be there, and Odisha FC will be there,” Zaragoza said.
Head-to-head record
The two teams have played 16 matches in the ISL. Mumbai City FC have won eight times, whereas Bengaluru FC have emerged victorious seven times, with one match resulting in a draw.
Key Stats
Sunil Chhetri has scored nine goals against Mumbai City FC in the ISL. One more strike will make him the first Indian to net 10 times against a single opponent in the competition.
Mumbai City FC’s Noufal PN recorded six touches inside Jamshedpur FC’s box after coming on as a substitute in their last match. Only Chhetri has recorded a higher tally in an ISL game since the start of 2024 among Indian players.
Bengaluru FC’s Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has overtaken Amrinder Singh (46) to become the goalkeeper to keep the highest number of clean sheets (47) in the ISL.
