Preview: Unbeaten Mumbai City tussle with unstoppable Bengaluru FC

The Islanders will be pushing to remain unbeaten the whole season.

Bengaluru FC will hope to become the first team to beat Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League (ISL 2022-23) as the Blues take on the Islanders in the vital fixture of the league stages.

Mumbai City have already won the ISL Shield, ticking off their first objective of the season. Bengaluru FC have barged their way into playoffs contention on the back of a six-match winning run. Here is the detailed preview for the mega clash at the Kanteerava.

The Stakes

Bengaluru FC

The home team will be aiming to delight their supporters after what can be termed an unthinkable turnaround following a poor start to the season. Grayson has marshalled his troops well, and a win will be valuable to BFC’s playoffs push.

Mumbai City FC

Mumbai will look to give some game-time to the youngsters on the bench in the second half if they take a comfortable lead, but will still want to keep their unbeaten record intact and become the only ISL team to go the whole league stage without losing.

Injury & Team News

Bengaluru FC will be without the suspended duo of Roy Krishna and Parag Shrivas, meanwhile Mumbai City might see Rahul Bheke make his way back to the side.

Head to Head

Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City have locked horns 11 times prior to this fixture.

Bengaluru FC – 4

Mumbai City – 6

Drawn – 1

Predicted Line-ups

Bengaluru FC (3-5-2)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK); Sandesh Jhingan, Alan Costa, Alexandar Jovanovic; Prabir Das, Suresh Wangjam, Javi Hernandez, Rohit Kumar, Naorem Roshan Singh; Sunil Chhetri, Sivasakthi Narayanan

Mumbai City FC (4-2-3-1)

Phurba Lachenpa (GK); Sanjeev Stalin, Mourtada Fall, Mehtab Singh, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy; Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges; Lallianzuala Chhangte, Greg Stewart, Bipin Singh; Jorge Pereyra Diaz

Player to Watch

Rohit Kumar (Bengaluru FC)

The central midfielder has looked like a rejuvenated presence, nailing down a starting spot and playing very well from the base of midfield. His defensive contributions as a sweeper coming in to dispossess opposition players has been crucial in launching rapid counters from deep, and he has dealt well with the creative playmakers. Rohit has also added goals to his game, scoring three already this season.

Lallianzuala Chhangte (Mumbai City FC)

The brilliant Chhangte became the second Indian after Sunil Chhetri to score 10 goals in an ISL season with his penalty against FC Goa. The winger has looked dangerous every time the ball has been played out to him, adding new dimensions to his game along with his deadly finishing with six assists so far. He has been consistent with his attacking output, despite the nature of the opposition, and will look to extend his form to the playoffs.

Did You Know?

• Bengaluru FC are the last team to defeat Mumbai City: in the Durand Cup final.
• Bengaluru’s 4-0 defeat to Mumbai is their joint-highest in terms of goal difference in the ISL.
• Mandar Rao Dessai is a former Bengaluru FC player.
• Vignesh Dakshinamurthy came from the Bengaluru-based Ozone FC academy

Telecast

The Bengaluru FC vs Mumbai City game will be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Kick-off is at 7:30 PM IST. The live telecast of the match will be available on the Star Sports Network. Disney+ Hotstar and JioTV will live stream the game.