Marco Leite: We have players who can do what Paulo Machado can do

The Mumbai City FC assistant coach feels that Odisha FC have players who can change the course of the game.

Mumbai City FC will face Odisha FC in their next ISL game at the Kalinga Stadium on Saturday. Assistant coach Marco Leite, accompanied by Souvik Chakrabarti addressed the media ahead of the match.

Marco Leite spoke briefly about the match as he remarked, “I think both teams know each other quite well. We’ve played against Odisha once in pre-season and once in the league. I predict a good game tomorrow.”

Regarding the quality of the opposition, Marco Leite stated, “Odisha FC are a good team. They do the simple things in football, but very effectively. They have players that can shift the balance of the game. They have their weapons, we have ours and we’re here to fight for the three points.

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“Their squad has some great quality players, foreigners and Indians. Yes, they have players that can make a difference, but we can’t risk drifting away from our plans by focusing on individuals,” he added.

Mumbai City have dealt with persistent injuries throughout the course of the season, which have been detrimental to their results. “We had some issues physically (two months ago) which we don’t have anymore, except that we lose Paulo Machado for some time who’s an important player to the club," Marco Leite quipped.

Watch: Mumbai City 2-4 Odisha FC

“We are fortunate that we have a good squad and we have players who can do what Machado can do for us. We know that every single player in the team can make a difference and that is why they are at the club,” Marco Leite concluded.

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Team News

Paulo Machado has been ruled out of the rest of the season. On the other hand, Sarthak Golui will mark a return from his one-match suspension.

Head To Head

Both these teams have faced each other once before, when Odisha registered a 2-4 victory over the Islanders.

Predicted XI

Amrinder, Sarthak, Pratik, Grgic, Subhasish, Rowllin, Raynier, Larbi, Carlos, Chermiti, Sougou.

Broadcast

The game will commence from 7:30 PM IST, Saturday. It will be telecast live on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD. It will also be available to stream on Hotstar and Jio TV.