ISL: FC Pune City vs Mumbai City FC - What we can expect - Preview and Prediction
In many ways, one can romanticise the encounter between the two teams as 'The tale of two cities'. While the tagline doesn't bear a faint resemblance to the classic novel by Charles Dickens, it does bear a strong connection to the fate of both the teams in the Indian Super League (ISL).
For the two teams placed at the bottom of the table, they have to win it if either of them harbour hopes of making it to the semi-finals. Match number 48 of the ISL will see FC Pune City clash with Mumbai City FC, an encounter which has also been labelled as the 'Maharashtra Derby'.
The last time the two teams met, was at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Back then it was early days in the ISL and Pune took a severe trouncing. Mumbai had outclassed their neighbours by hammering in five goals to send Pune crashing down to the bottom of the table. But since then both the teams have seen the highs and lows associated with the ISL team standings. While Pune continue to stay in the seventh position, despite a draw against Kolkata a couple of days back, Mumbai come to Pune after a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Delhi Dynamos FC.
What makes the game interesting to watch, in the latter stages of the ISL, are the high stakes associated with it. A win for Pune will propel them into fourth position ahead of Kerala Blasters FC, while a win for the bottom placed Mumbai City FC will send them to the fifth position. And no matter the permutations and combinations that will be done by the tacticians for both the teams, the final answer will boil down to the tactics utilised on the football pitch over a period of 90 minutes.
Venue
This time around, Pune will be having the benefit of playing in front of their tremendous home support. The venue for the match is the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune. The home team has had a good run at their home stadium, losing only one game in the process. The 5-0 drubbing in Mumbai will be on the minds of the players as they look to avenge the defeat and go up in the table, on home soil.
Kick-off:
December 3, 7 pm IST
Probable Line-ups:
Mumbai City FC (4-4-2): In their previous game against Delhi, Mumbai were routed 4-1 — a defeat that will obviously still be lingering on the minds of Peter Reid and his men. While they will look to overturn their fortunes at the expense of Pune, it is unlikely that Peter Reid will go in with a different formation outside his preferred one with four defenders, four midfielders and two strikers. It is a formidable formation that has been utilised by many teams in the ISL and we feel that Peter Reid will stick to it this time around.
Team: Subrata Pal, Deepak Mondal, Manuel Freidrich, Pavel Cmovs, Nabi, Tiago Ribeiro, Jan Stohanzl, Fredrik Ljungberg, Lalrindika Ralte, Subhash, Sushil.
There are concerns in the Mumbai camp with two of their star players, Andre Moritz and Nicolas Anelka still nursing injuries, Peter Reid will have his hands full juggling his squad. Mumbai are known for their good passing and that will be something that he will be looking to use to the team's advantage. That, along with Ljungberg's expertise in midfield will make for a formidable opposition for Pune.
FC Pune City (4-2-3-1): For Pune coach Franco Colomba, the lone striker formation looks to be one that has worked out to mixed results. However, Pune have found a strong replacement for the injured John Goossens in Kristian Vadocz. He was outstanding in the previous game against Kolkata with only the strong keeping of the Kolkata custodian Edel denying him a first home goal. His long range screamers have the ability to trouble the best goalkeepers.
Team: Arindam Bhattacharya, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Bruno Cirillo, Daniele Magliocchetti, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Lenny Rodrigues, Kostas Katsouranis, Park Kwang-II, Kristian Vadocz, Ashutosh Mehta, Dudu Omagbemi
Coach Franco Colomba has an interesting array of players at his disposal. There might be a chance that he will play Park along with Mehta on the flanks, given that Gurung is injured and Davide was spotted with an ice pack, nursing his hamstring. There could be a possibility to swap Mehta later on with Pennant. There is also a possibility that he might retain his Indian-Italian defence which has worked well up until now.
The only issue remains with Dudu. Without a talented player like him, Pune have often been found struggling to send in the right passes to him at crucial junctures. Unless and until the guys up-front start passing the ball faster to him and take advantage of his darting runs and blistering pace, he will be wasted. Colomba will be aware of the result of the previous meeting between the two sides and will be looking to plug the gaps that his team offered during their previous meeting with Mumbai.
Key battles
Kostas vs Ljungberg: The battle for midfield supremacy will be between these two players. It could also involve Stohanzl fighting it out along with Kostas. Will the former Greek captain be up to the test or will Pune's star player be completely shut-out? It will be an interesting battle of speed, skill and accuracy on display during the match.
Subhash/ Sushil vs Cirillo/ Wadoo: The Mumbai offence up against the Pune defence. The last time the Mumbai forwards along with the injured Moritz had systematically dismantled Pune's midfield and defence. But ever since those days, the Pune defence has picked up and become formidable and has come of age. Will Mumbai be able to repeat the performance of the past or will the Indo-Italian combination stop them in their tracks? These are interesting questions that will be answered during the course of the game.
Dudu vs Cmovs: There was no chance for the Pune forwards in their previous encounter against Mumbai to even make a darting run into the Mumbai half. Cmovs as well as Freidrich had stopped them cold. But over the course of time, Pune found new belief in the form of Dudu and Goossens. While the latter is out injured, the former is still going great guns and he will be a real threat against Mumbai, if he manages to generate the speed and if the passes come to him on the right time.
Prediction
FC Pune City 2-1 Mumbai City FC