Preview: NorthEast United face uphill task against Mumbai City

The teams are placed on either ends of the league table.

Mumbai City will square off against bottom-placed NorthEast United for their respective 15th match of the ongoing season of the Indian Super League (ISL 2022-23). The encounter will be played out at the Mumbai Football Arena (MFA) on Thursday. The Islanders are on a peerless run as of now, having been unbeaten throughout the campaign.

On the other hand, the Highlanders have had a season to forget, winning and drawing merely one game each in their 14 games so far. Here is a comprehensive preview of the forthcoming faceoff between the two sides.

The Stakes

Mumbai City

The Islanders have really turned around their fortunes this year. They have already sealed qualification for the playoffs but the Des Buckingham-coached unit will be vying to finish atop the standings. Moreover, they have the unforeseen opportunity to go through the entire season without losing a game.

The home side have managed to come back from precarious positions to take away three points from many matches – most notably, in their last encounter against ATK Mohun Bagan. The Mariners kept knocking on their door throughout the game but Mumbai refused to budge and held on to their first-half lead to further cement their spot at the top in the table.

NorthEast United

Quite bluntly, NorthEast United have little to gain from this point onward in this season. A change at helm hasn’t had a great impact either, with the team receiving a 6-1 mauling from Hyderabad FC in late December.

However, they have won and drawn against ATK Mohun Bagan and FC Goa respectively, and it shows that the team has it in them to put forth a spirited performance if they get their act together. The issue is that not many sides have managed to present a strong fight to Mumbai until now and it looks very unlikely that NorthEast will be the one to break that pattern, given their performances so far this season.   

Injury & Team News

Mumbai City's Amey Ranawade has been ruled out of the season due to an injury. Rostyn Griffiths too, was taken off against ATK Mohun Bagan after getting injured. Jorge Pereyra Diaz will however, return to the squad after serving a one-game suspension. Apart from these issues, both the teams have fully fit rosters!

Head-to-Head

Mumbai City and NorthEast United have locked horns 17 times in the ISL.

Mumbai City – 8

NorthEast United – 5

Drawn – 4

Predicted Line-Ups

Mumbai City (4-2-3-1)

Phurba Lachenpa (GK); Rahul Bheke, Mourtada Fall, Mehtab Singh, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy; Ahmed Jahouh, Lalengmawia Ralte; Lallianzuala Chhangte, Greg Stewart, Bipin Singh; Jorge Pereyra Diaz.

NorthEast United (4-3-3)

Mirshad Michu (GK); Joe Zoherliana, Alex Saji, Aaron Evans, Hira Mondal; Romain Philippoteaux, Sehnaj Singh, Pragyan Gogoi; Kule Mbombo, Jordan Wilmar, Jithin MS

Player to watch

Greg Stewart (Mumbai City)

Greg Stewart has made the Mumbai City attack tick incredibly well this season. He has orchestrated most of their offensive endeavours, often dropping deep to dictate play and even getting at the end of decisive passes occasionally. He has five goals and seven assists to his name in 14 appearances this season and Buckingham will want him firing from all ends as Mumbai enter into the business end of the season.

Wilmar Jordan Gil (NorthEast United)

Wilmar Jordan Gil has been one of the few shining spots for NorthEast in an otherwise disappointing season. The forward has struck five goals in eight games until now. He bagged a brace by converting two spot-kicks in the team’s previous clash against FC Goa. The Highlanders can rely on him to capitalise on goal-scoring opportunities provided they create any of those against Mumbai.

Did You Know?

• Mumbai City have scored the most goals in the ISL (41) so far this season. NorthEast United, contrastingly, have notched the joint-least number of goals (13).
• NorthEast United players have been shown the yellow card the most times (28), along with Kerala Blasters, in ISL 2022-23.
• Greg Stewart has the most on-target shots (28) in the league this season.

Telecast

The live telecast of the Mumbai City vs NorthEast United match will be available on the Star Sports Network. The live stream of the fixture can be viewed on Disney+Hotstar and JioTV. Kick-off is at 7:30 PM on Thursday at the Mumbai Football Arena.