Mohun Bagan vs Bengaluru FC Preview, predicted lineup, injury news, H2H, telecast details | Durand Cup 2024

Mohun Bagan will look to use their home advantage.

Mohun Bagan host old foes Bengaluru FC in the 2024 Durand Cup semi-final at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday (27 August). With both the Indian Super League (ISL) giants aiming to earn a place in the grand finale, this could potentially end up being the 2024 Durand Cup’s most entertaining and fiercely competitive game.

The Stakes

Mohun Bagan

The Mariners needed the help of luck (and goalkeeper Vishal Kaith) to barely scrape past a resilient Punjab FC in the quarter-final. But as they say, luck favors the brave. Mohun Bagan needs to maintain a fearless attitude against the sturdy Bengaluru FC side. They need to maintain their high tempo and attacking nature, but Jose Molina will urge his players to be much more ruthless in terms of finishing their chances.

Mohun Bagan also needs to fortify their backline and be defensively much sharper to keep the Blues at bay and get a big result. A win can give a huge confidence booster to Molina’s men and reinforce their belief in retaining the Durand Cup title, but a loss will be an unwelcome setback and pose questions about their quality before the start of the 2024-25 ISL campaign.

Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru FC have arguably been the most efficient side of the Durand Cup campaign so far and proved their grit with a thrilling late win over Kerala Blasters in the quarter-final. But now they face an even bigger task against a Mohun Bagan side with home advantage and boasting a star-studded attacking line-up.

Gerard Zaragoza needs to ensure that his side are near-flawless in their defensive shape and are not intimidated by the occasion at all.

He’ll need his side to be defensively strong and make their chances count, especially on the counter-attacks. A win against a side like Mohun Bagan can reinforce the belief that Bengaluru FC are going to be heavyweights in the upcoming ISL campaign but a bad loss can raise questions about their title-winning capabilities.

Injury & Team News

Mohun Bagan’s star striker Jamie Maclaren remains a doubt for this match due to a slight knock. Bengaluru FC should have a fully fit team from their win in the quarter-final.

Head-to-Head

Matches Played – 23

Bengaluru FC wins – 5

Mohun Bagan wins – 11

Draws – 7

Predicted Lineups

Mohun Bagan (3-5-2)

Vishal Kaith (GK); Tom Aldred, Alberto Rodriguez, Subhasish Bose; Manvir Singh, Abhishek Suryavanshi, Lalangmawia Ralte, Sahal Abdul Samad, Liston Colaco; Dimitri Petratos, Jason Cummings

Bengaluru FC (4-3-3)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK); Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Naorem Roshan Singh; Suresh Singh, Pedro Payeras, Alberto Noguera; Shivaldo Singh, Sivasakthi Narayanan, Jorge Pereyra Diaz

Player to Watch

Liston Colaco (Mohun Bagan)

Liston Colaco has looked like one of Mohun Bagan’s sharpest players under Jose Molina so far and seems to be embracing his wing-back role.

He has been using his trickery and dribbling prowess to burst past players with ease, causing havoc on the left side and allowing the Mariners to penetrate opposition backlines efficiently. Colaco faces his national team colleague Nikhil Poojary in the semi-final and will look to use his unpredictable movement to torment him.

Colaco needs to nail his runs and more importantly, get his final delivery bang on to rattle and destabilize the Bengaluru FC backline. If he’s able to tap into his creative best with his final passes, Colaco can make things much easier for his teammates and he’ll also look to get a goal by putting his powerful shooting ability to good use.

Jorge Pereyra Diaz (Bengaluru FC)

Jorge Pereyra Diaz appears to have taken to Bengaluru FC’s system like a fish to water and has already proven to be a brilliant signing for the Blues. The aggressive Argentine forward has been one of the best forwards in the Durand Cup, having scored three goals – which included a brilliant last-gasp winner to knock out Kerala Blasters in the quarter-final.

Diaz has all the attributes that can hurt this shaky Mohun Bagan backline and will look to be a menace to their backline. He’ll look to use his smart link-up play to help teammates move into better-attacking positions and time his off-the-ball movement to perfection. If Diaz can get himself into the open pockets of spaces and finish off chances clinically, he can silence the Mohun Bagan crowd and book a place in the final for the Blues.

Did you know?

• Mohun Bagan have won four of their last five matches against Bengaluru FC and did the double over them in the 2023-24 ISL.
• Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has kept four clean sheets in the 2024 Durand Cup, more than any other goalkeeper.
• This is the first time that Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan will face each other in the Durand Cup.

Telecast Details

The 2024 Durand Cup semi-final clash between Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC will take place at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Tuesday (August 27). It will kick off at 5:30 PM IST. The match will be shown live on Sony Ten 2 and also be available to live stream on Sony LIV.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.