Chennaiyin vs Mumbai City: Preview and Prediction
Chennaiyin will take on Mumbai City in the fourth game of matchday 6 of the 2022-23 Indian Super League season at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday.
Chennaiyin has not been absolutely perfect so far, but they will be pretty satisfied with the start that they have got. The Marina Machans have won two of their first four matches while drawing and losing one game apiece. They are placed in the sixth position in the standings.
Mumbai City, on the other hand, is among the only two teams who are yet to lose a match this season, with Hyderabad being the other game. With two wins and three defeats, they are occupying the fourth position in the standings.
Current Form
Chennaiyin had a good start to their campaign, as despite trailing 0-1 in their first match against a formidable ATK Mohun Bagan side, they launched a late comeback to win the game 2-1. In their second match, Thomas Brdaric’s team draw 1-1 against Bengaluru.
The third match against Goa was the only occasion where the Marina Machans did not turn up, as they lost 0-2 in that fixture. However, the two-time champions managed to turn things around by beating East Bengal 0-1 in their last match.
In their first match, Mumbai City was involved in a six-goal thriller, playing out a 3-3 draw against defending champions Hyderabad. The performance from Des Buckingham’s men was much better in their second match, as they defeated Odisha 2-0.
The third fixture against Jamshedpur was again a draw, with the scoreline being 1-1 this time but the Islanders handed Kerala Blasters a 2-0 defeat in their last match. In their last match, ATK Mohun Bagan held Mumbai City to a 2-2 stalemate.
Head to Head Record
There is not much to separate the two sides based on head-to-head records, with Mumbai City enjoying the slightest of advantages. Among the 16 previous meetings, the Islanders have won seven matches, while the Marina Machans have won six matches. Three matches have ended in stalemates.
The last meeting saw Buckingham’s team handing Chennaiyin a 1-0 defeat. The match did not yield a goal until the 85th minute when a Vikram Pratap Singh strike helped the Islanders bag all three points.
Team News
Brdaric might be forced to make a few changes to his starting XI. Iranian centre-back Vafa Hakhamaneshi will be unavailable after picking up a red card in the last match while having sustained an injury in the same fixture, Narayan Das could also be unavailable.
The duo could be replaced by Mohammad Sajid Dhot and Aakash Sangwan respectively. Given that an overseas slot will be opened up, Brdaric could use Dutch winger Nasser El Khayati in Prasanth Karuthadathkuni’s place.
Similarly, Buckingham is also expected to make changes to his team. Sanjeev Stalin had a difficult outing against Liston Colaco in the last match and was subsequently substituted at half-time. In his place, Mandar Rao Dessai was handed a start.
Besides that, Argentine striker Jorge Pereyra Diaz also had a day to forget. While Mumbai City does not have an out-and-out number nine to replace him, Alberto Noguera could lead the lines for them in this fixture.
Predicted XIs
Chennaiyin (4-4-2): Debjit Majumder; Ajith Kumar, Fallou Diagne, Mohammad Sajid Dhot, Aakash Sangwan; Jiteshwor Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Julius Duker, Nasser El Khayati; Petar Sliskovic, Rahim Ali.
Mumbai City (4-3-3): Phurba Lachenpa; Rahul Bheke, Rostyn Griffiths, Mehtab Singh, Mandar Rao Dessai; Ahmed Jahouh, Apuia Ralte, Greg Stewart; Lallianzuala Chhangte, Alberto Noguera, Bipin Singh.
Prediction
While matches between these two teams have traditionally been closely contested, Mumbai City has a better squad than Chennaiyin and they also have looked more resolute. Hence, we have predicted the Islanders to secure all three points from this game.
