Preview: Wounded ATK Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters chase stability

Both teams have blown hot and cold throughout the season.

Kerala Blasters are through to the playoffs, but the injury-ravaged ATK Mohun Bagan are yet to make the cut. They face off against the Yellow Army, needing a win on Saturday to inch closer to sealing their berth. The Mariners are winless in their last three games and need to win their remaining two league games to fully ensure a place in the playoffs.

The Blasters will be looking to bounce back from defeat against Bengaluru FC. They will be aiming for a top-4 finish after a good season overall. Here is the detailed preview ahead of the clash.

The Stakes

ATK Mohun Bagan

For ATK Mohun Bagan, a blip in their form couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Mariners are struggling to score goals and win games. With 20 goals from 18 games, they have the second-lowest goal record in the ISL this season.

While Juan Ferrando keeps underlining the injury issues that are tarnishing their season, The Mariners need to rediscover their best form and make one final push to end the season strongly.

ATKMB have had a pretty solid home record this season, having won six out of their nine games at the Salt Lake Stadium. They’ll hope to end their league home tally with seven wins. With the players aware that they might be playing for their future at ATKMB in these final games, they should be aware of the stakes. That could motivate them to perform at a higher level, something which Ferrando will hope to use to beat Kerala.

Kerala Blasters

FC Goa's defeat against Chennaiyin confirmed Kerala's playoffs qualification. The Yellow Army can even benefit from a draw from the game but are hurt and looking for wins after the loss to Bengaluru FC.

Kerala will also look to avenge the embarrassing defeat suffered at the hands of ATKMB earlier this season. While a lack of consistency has hindered Ivan Vukomanovic’s side in recent weeks, they’ll need to reach their optimum performance levels to win the ISL this season.

The Yellow Army will hope to tune up their performance levels against the Mariners. They’re aware that a big win in Kolkata can be a major confidence booster for the squad and give them the necessary momentum to finish the season strongly.

Injury & Team News

ATK Mohun Bagan have a lot of injury issues plaguing their squad. Carl McHugh is expected to miss the game with a groin injury. Hugo Boumous is in a race against time to recover from a hamstring injury. Glan Martins and Puitea both suffered knocks in the last game. Deepak Tangri is out for the rest of the season.

Kerala Blasters have no fresh injury concerns.

Head-to-Head

ATK Mohun Bagan have faced Kerala Blasters five times in the Indian Super League. Out of that, they’ve won on four occasions and aim to continue that good form on Saturday.

ATK Mohun Bagan – 4

Kerala Blasters – 0

Drawn – 1

Predicted Lineups

ATK Mohun Bagan (4-2-3-1)

Vishal Kaith (GK), Asish Rai, Pritam Kotal, Brendan Hamill, Subhashish Bose, Puitea, Federico Gallego, Manvir Singh, Kiyan Nassiri, Ashique Kuruniyan, Dimitri Petratos

Kerala Blasters (4-4-2)

Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Nishu Kumar, Hormipam Ruivah, Victor Mongil, Jessel Carneiro, Jeakson Singh, Ivan Kalyuzhnyi, Sahal Abdul Samad, Rahul KP, Adrian Luna, Dimitrios Diamantakos

Player to Watch

Dimitri Petratos (ATK Mohun Bagan)

At this point in time, Dimitri Petratos is probably the only ATK Mohun Bagan attacker performing at his best. The Australian forward has been frustrated in recent weeks, being forced to play way deeper than he wants to. As a result, he’s almost never in key scoring areas in the box and is being limited.

However, Petratos possesses that special spark in his game that not many else in the Mariners’ squad do. Be it his clever off-the-ball movement, excellent crossing ability, and predatorial scoring instincts, he has everything to torment Kerala. As long as lady luck can help him a bit, Petratos can run riot against Blasters at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Sahal Abdul Samad (Kerala Blasters)

Sahal Abdul Samad has delivered some really hot and cold performances for Kerala Blasters. But there is little doubting the quality of the India international. Sahal is blessed with creative quality and is a major threat in the final third. If he gets enough freedom to operate, the Blasters midfielder can have a ball at the Mariners’ home ground.

Sahal will be key in setting up chances for his side and aim to share duties with Adrian Luna. As long as he can be more accurate with his decision-making, he can trouble ATK Mohun Bagan.

Did you know?

• Vishal Kaith (8) is currently leading the clean sheets charts in the Indian Super League right now.
• Ivan Kalyuzhnyi has made the second-most tackles (31) for any player in the ISL this season.
• No player has created more big chances than Dimitri Petratos (48) this season. Incidentally, he only has six assists from that.

Telecast

The match between ATK Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters will take place at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on February 18 (Saturday). The kick-off time is 7:30 PM IST. The game will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network. Disney+HotStar and JioTV will also stream the match.