Two teams who have had a contrasting start to the ISL campaign are set to lock horns at the Marina Arena as Chennaiyin gears up to host defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant. While the Mariners are sitting pretty atop the league standings after two matchdays, the Marina Machans are rock bottom, having failed to win a single point so far.
Juan Ferrando’s men defeated newly promoted outfit Punjab 3-1 in their league opener and then they edged out Bengaluru 1-0 in a repeat of last year’s final with Hugo Boumous scoring the all-important winner.
On the other hand, Owen Coyle took his team to Bhubaneshwar for their opening game of the season wherein they were beaten 2-0 by Odisha, followed by a 3-0 defeat at the hands of NorthEast United in Guwahati.
There would be optimism among the fans that the two-time ISL winners are set to play their first home game of the season, but Coyle would certainly be feeling the heat of getting their campaign back on track.
MBSG come into this fixture on the back of a 2-1 win over Maziya in the AFC Cup group game, and the Kolkata giants are unbeaten in their past nine competitive outings. The last time they suffered a defeat was at the hands of East Bengal in the Durand Cup 2023 group game between the two arch-rivals.
After the modest start to the season by the Marina Machans, they face a stern test to tame the defending champions who are in red-hot form, making this game a contest of epic proportions.
Current Form
Undoubtedly, it is the Mariners who come into this fixture with momentum on their side. After winning the league last season, Ferrando’s side has been on fire as they lifted the Durand Cup by beating the Red and Golds in the final. The two Kolkata giants were paired in the same group, MBSG lost to their city rivals but beat Punjab and Bangladesh Army to qualify as one of the second-best-placed teams.
In the quarterfinals, they eliminated Mumbai City prevailing 3-1, followed by a 2-1 win over Goa in the semifinals. A 1-0 win in the final saw the oldest club India lift the first piece of silverware this season and they remain on course for winning a treble as the Mariners sit pretty atop their AFC Cup group, and the ISL standings.
On the other hand, the two-time ISL champs have had a rocky start to the campaign as they have struggled to adapt to Coyle’s blueprint. In their pre-season fixtures, the Marina Machans beat Kalighat MS 4-0 in a friendly back in July, before they were held to back-to-back draws against Mohammedan. In the Durand Cup, the club from Tamil Nadu’s capital topped their Group E, but they were eliminated by Goa 4-1 in the quarterfinal.
Coming to their inaugural league outing, the side struggled to create any opportunities against Odisha, managing to hit the target only twice. Against the Highlanders, they mustered up a solitary shot on target, conceding thrice, with defender Aniket having to chip in under the posts after Samik Mitra sustained an injury. The Marina Machans have yet to score this campaign and they need to shore up their defence as well.
Head to Head Record
Before their merger with Mohun Bagan, ATK faced the Marina Machans 15 times, winning 7 games while the club from South India won four times, 4 matches ended all square.
Then, after the merger, the two sides have met on six occasions, the Kolkata giants have claimed two wins, and the two-time ISL winners have won just once since 2020 while three fixtures ended as draws. Back in January when these sides locked horns, they played out a 0-0 stalemate.
Team News
Ferrando has the luxury to pick from a fully fit unit barring the only long-term absentee that is Ashique Kuriniyan.
The Spaniard chose to go with the attacking trio of Petratos, Cummings, and Sadiku for the AFC Cup game, but with just four overseas picks allowed in ISL, the latter might be benched. Also, with just two strikers he might revert to the 3-5-2 formation.
The trio of Cummings, Sahal and Boumous have combined 17 goal contributions so far
Coyle meanwhile would be happy to welcome back the duo of Vincy Barretto and Rahim Ali as the pair have returned to India after the Asian Games and they would be raring to go on Saturday. Samik’s injury seemed serious as he was stretchered off, so Debjit Majumder is expected to be in goal against the Mariners.
Predicted Starting XIs
Chennaiyin (4-2-3-1): Debjit Majumder; Aakash Sangwan; Lazar Ćirković, Bikash Yumnam, Alexander Romario Jesuraj; Ayush Adhikari, Cristian Battocchio; Rahim Ali, Rafael Crivellaro, Vincy Barretto; Connor Shields.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant (3-5-2): Vishal Kaith; Anwar Ali, Hector Yuste, Subhashish Bose; Manvir Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Hugo Boumous, Liston Colaco; Dimitri Petratos, Jason Cummings.
Prediction
Given the recent form of these two sides, the Mariners will be firm favorites for all three points. The Marina Machans will be expected to put up a tough fight at their fortress, but Ferrado’s side are unbeaten in their past nine games, it’s hard to imagine them dropping points at the Marina Arena.