ATK Mohun Bagan vs NorthEast United: Preview and Prediction

4 years AGO
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ATK Mohun Bagan is likely to extend their unbeaten streak

Two worlds of this competition will collide in ‘Match 88’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season, as title contenders ATK Mohun Bagan will take on the basement boys NorthEast United at the Fatorda Stadium on Saturday.

After a challenging start, ATK Mohun Bagan has turned their season around since the arrival of Juan Ferrando as the head coach. The Mariners are placed in the fourth position, having accumulated 23 points from 13 matches.

NorthEast United took on the Kolkata-based team in the semi-finals of last season, but have failed to replicate their form this time around. With only 10 points from 16 matches, the Highlanders are placed in the last position.

Current Form

ATK Mohun Bagan has been in sublime form in recent weeks and is among the two teams who are unbeaten in their last five matches. Ferrando’s men have gathered seven points from their previous three fixtures.

The Mariners handed league leaders Hyderabad a 2-1 defeat in their last match, courtesy of goals from Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh. In the two outings before that, they drew 1-1 against Mumbai City and won 3-1 against East Bengal.

Hardly anything has gone according to plans for NorthEast United in the last few weeks, as they are the only team who have not won any of their last five matches. The Highlanders are coming into this match on the back of back-to-back defeats.

They lost 2-1 against Kerala Blasters while Hyderabad handed them a 5-0 humiliation. Before these two defeats, Khalid Jamil’s men restricted reigning champions Mumbai City to a 1-1 draw.

Head to Head Record

ATK Mohun Bagan holds the upper hand in terms of head-to-head records, as they have won three of the five meetings against NorthEast United. The Highlanders have won one match, while the other game ended in a draw.

The first meeting of this season ended 3-2 in the Mariners’ favor. A Hugo Boumous strike and a Liston strike comprised the three goals scored by Ferrando’s team, whilst from Jamil’s men, VP Suhair and Mashoor Shereef were on target.

Team News

Deshorn Brown can return to the NorthEast United starting XI

Deshorn Brown can return to the NorthEast United starting XI

After beating the league leaders, Ferrando would ideally have preferred to field an unchanged starting XI, but he could be forced to make two changes as Boumous and Carl McHugh sustained injuries in the last match.

McHugh could be replaced by Joni Kauko in the middle of the park while Boumous can make way for Roy Krishna. The Fijian attacker is yet to make a full recovery from his injury, but has rejoined the camp and was spotted in training.

Jamil is likely to make wholesale changes to his team in a desperate bid for rejuvenation. Hernan Santana could be switched back to his defensive role by dropping Shereef, who had a poor outing against Kerala Blasters, while Sehnaj Singh can slot in the midfield.

Gurjinder Kumar might have to make way for Tondonba Singh in the left-back position, while it seems very likely that Imran Khan will be reinstated in the team at the expense of Pragyan Gogoi. Deshorn Brown is also expected to be handed a start, with Marco Sahanek dropping to the bench.

Predicted Starting Lineups

ATK Mohun Bagan (4-2-3-1): Amrinder Singh; Prabir Das, Pritam Kotal, Tiri, Subhasish Bose; Joni Kauko, Lenny Rodrigues; Liston Colaco, Roy Krishna, Manvir Singh; David Williams.

NorthEast United (4-3-3): Subhasish Roy; Joe Zoherliana, Hernan Santana, Zakaria Diallo, Tondonba Singh; Mohamed Irshad, Sehnaj Singh, Imran Khan; Deshorn Brown, VP Suhair, Marcelinho.

Prediction

There is absolutely no comparison between the teams as ATK Mohun Bagan has the edge in head-to-head statistics, current form, and quality on paper as well. Hence, we have predicted a 2-0 win in favor of the Mariners.