ATK Mohun Bagan vs Bengaluru: Preview and Prediction

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Bengaluru has never beaten ATK Mohun Bagan in this competition

The last fixture of matchday 18 of the 2022-23 Indian Super League season will see ATK Mohun Bagan taking on Bengaluru at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday.

ATK Mohun Bagan might not be totally happy with their performance so far, given their spectacular squad, but they still are comfortably placed to make it to the next round. With 8 wins in 15 matches and 27 points, they are placed fourth in the standings.

Bengaluru, on the other hand, has had a disappointing campaign so far. After winning the Durand Cup, the Blues failed to turn up in this competition and have won only 7 of their first 16 matches. With 22 points, they are placed seventh in the points table.

Current Form

ATK Mohun Bagan started their season on a poor note, with a 1-2 defeat against Chennaiyin, but then went on a four-game unbeaten streak. During this run, Juan Ferrando’s men got the better of Kerala Blasters, East Bengal, and NorthEast United, while the match against Mumbai City ended in a draw.

After Goa ended their unbeaten run, the Mariners again embarked on a similar run of three wins and a draw. This time, they defeated Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Jamshedpur. 

It was followed by a surprisingly poor run where Ferrando’s side could only win one of the next five matches, while also suffering losses against NorthEast United. However, they bounced back with a 2-0 win over Odisha in their last match.

Bengaluru started their season with a win against NorthEast United and a draw against Chennaiyin, but it was followed by a run of four straight defeats against Hyderabad, Odisha, East Bengal, and Mumbai City. Simon Grayson’s team won their next match against Goa but then lost four of their next five matches.

This time around, they recorded defeats against ATK Mohun Bagan, Kerala Blasters, Hyderabad and East Bengal, while the win against Jamshedpur was the only exception. That being said, the Blues will come into this game with their heads held high, as they have won all of their last four matches against NorthEast United, Odisha, Jamshedpur, and Chennaiyin.

Head to Head Record

The head-to-head records are completely inclined in favour of ATK Mohun Bagan. The Mariners have won four of the previous five league meetings against Bengaluru, while the only other fixture ended in a stalemate.

In the first meeting of this season, ATK Mohun Bagan secured a hard-fought 1-0 win. Grayson’s men managed to keep the Mariners squad for most of the game, but an 83rd-minute strike by Dimitri Petratos sealed all three points for Ferrando’s side.

Team News

Though his team won the last match against Odisha by a 2-0 margin, Ferrando will be forced to make at least two changes to his starting XI. Ashique Kuruniyan will be unavailable for selection after being handed marching orders in that game, and in his place, Liston Colaco could be re-introduced to the team.

Besides Kuruniyan, Boumous will also be unavailable but for a different reason as he has picked up four yellow cards and now needs to serve a one-game suspension. The Spanish tactician has used new signing Federico Gallego only sparsely, but in this match, we can see the Uruguayan from the start.

On the other hand, there is a high chance that Grayson will decide to field the same starting XI that defeated Chennaiyin 3-1, given that every coach prevents tinkering with a settled side. However, there is still room for improvement in the Blues’ team.

Spanish midfielder Javi Hernandez did not have the best of games and was substituted in the second half. In his place, former Sporting Gijon midfielder Pablo Perez could be handed a rare start in this game.

Predicted XIs

ATK Mohun Bagan (4-2-3-1): Vishal Kaith; Asish Rai, Pritam Kotal, Brendan Hamill, Subhasish Bose; Carl McHugh, Glan Martins; Manvir Singh, Federico Gallego, Liston Colaco; Dimitri Petratos.

Bengaluru (3-5-2): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Alan Costa, Sandesh Jhingan, Parag Shrivas; Prabir Das, Suresh Sing Wangjam, Pablo Perez, Rohit Kumar, Roshan Naorem; Roy Krishna, Sivasakthi Narayanan.

Prediction

While Bengaluru might be on a streak of four consecutive wins, ATK Mohun Bagan will also be buzzing with confidence after bouncing back to winning ways in their last match, while the head-to-head statistics also favour them. Hence, we have predicted the Mariners to clinch all three points from this fixture.

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