Durand Cup 2023: Mumbai City aim pole position in Group B

Mumbai City earned comfortable victories in their first two Durand Cup 2023 games.

The final Saturday of the 132nd IndianOil Durand Cup group stages will see Mumbai City FC (MCFC) take on the Indian Navy Football Team (INFT) in their final Group B fixtures at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) in Kolkata. That game will be followed by a Group F game in Kokrajhar’s SAI stadium where Odisha FC clash with local side Bodoland FC in what will also be their respective final group games.

The Kolkata game has an afternoon 3.00pm Indian Standard Time (IST) start while the Kokrajhar game has an evening 6.00pm IST kick-off scheduled.

If evidence from their first two games is anything to go by, Des Buckingham’s MCFC will look at nothing less than a win against the Indian Navy team, to confirm top spot Group B. Mohammedan Sporting and Jamshedpur play next in the Group and both can reach six points, the same the Islanders have at the moment. In spite of the fact that they have a healthy positive goal difference, Des Buckingham would not like to take any chances.

The Islanders gaffer had said ahead of the game, “Tomorrow will be a continuation of what we’ve done in the two games before this and of course, building on the pre-season friendly game we played in Thailand. For us, it’s about try to get fitter, sharper and continue to evolve. Firstly, our target is to go as far as we can in this tournament and secondly, to make sure we’re as good and as sharp as we need to be for the first game in the AFC Champions League in September.”

What will make matters easier for him will be the fact that the Navy team has so far posed no threat to their opponents and are already out of contention having lost both their opening games. 

Given the context, Saturday might just see the first team in the tournament to log three wins out of three.

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