Hyderabad vs ATK Mohun Bagan: Preview and Prediction
The fourth fixture of matchday 19 of the 2022-23 Indian Super League season will see Hyderabad taking on ATK Mohun Bagan at Hyderabad’s G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium on Tuesday.
Hyderabad’s quest for the League Winners’ Shield ended after their defeat against Odisha in the last game. Hence, their main target will now be to safeguard the second position, which the Nizams are occupying at the moment with 36 points from 17 matches.
On the other hand, ATK Mohun Bagan is one of the teams who are trying to dethrone Hyderabad from their seat. The Mariners have won 8 of their 17 matches, and with 28 matches in their account, they are placed fourth in the standings.
Current Form
Hyderabad had a fantastic start to their season as they were unbeaten in their first six games, winning five of those against NorthEast United, Bengaluru, Goa, Odisha, and Jamshedpur. Back-to-back defeats against Kerala Blasters and ATK Mohun Bagan derailed their freight train, but it was brought back on track with five consecutive wins.
During this run, Manolo Marquez Roca’s men got the better of Chennaiyin, East Bengal, Bengaluru, NorthEast United and Goa. However, the Nizams fell off the hook ever since and have won only one of their last four matches, while drawing two and losing their last fixture against Odisha.
After losing their first match against Chennaiyin, ATK Mohun Bagan was unbeaten in their next four games, winning three of those matches against Kerala Blasters, East Bengal and NorthEast United. While the Mariners lost their next match against Goa, they made up for it with another streak of four unbeaten matches.
However, Juan Ferrando’s men have been up to the task ever since, as they have won only two of their last seven matches – against Goa and Odisha. During this run, the Mariners have drawn two games and lost thrice against NorthEast United, Mumbai City, and Bengaluru.
Head to Head Record
The head-to-head records are inclined in favour of ATK Mohun Bagan. The Mariners have won three of the previous seven league meetings against Hyderabad, with the Nizams ending victoriously on only one occasion. The other three games, meanwhile, ended in draws.
The first meeting of this season, which took place back in November, saw ATK Mohun Bagan securing a 1-0 win at home. Hugo Boumous netted the decisive goal for Ferrando’s team in the 11th minute, as Roca’s men could not find an equalizer.
Team News
After a disappointing draw against Jamshedpur, Ferrando is expected to make quite a few changes to his starting XI. One of those will be a forced change, as Subhasish Bose will be unavailable for selection after picking up four yellow cards and subsequently, a one-game suspension. He is expected to be replaced by Sumit Rathi.
Carl McHugh had a poor outing against the Red Miners and was later replaced by Slavko Damjanovic, hence, the latter is expected to feature from the start of this match. Besides that, Manvir Singh and Kiyan Nassiri are likely to be replaced by Md. Fardin Ali Molla and Liston Colaco respectively.
Similarly, Roca is also expected to tweak his team after a 1-3 defeat against Odisha. Left-back Akash Mishra will be available for selection again after serving his one-game suspension, and he is likely to replace Manoj Mohammad.
On the opposite flank, Nikhil Poojary had a tough outing against Isak Vanlalruatfela and he could be asked to make way for Reagan Singh. Besides that, Hitesh Sharma also had a day to forget against the Kalinga Warriors and might see his place get snatched by Sahil Tavora.
Predicted XIs
Hyderabad (4-2-3-1): Gurmeet Singh; Reagan Singh, Nim Dorjee Tamang, Odei Onaindia, Akash Mishra; Sahil Tavora, Borja Herrera; Mohammad Yasir, Joel Chianese, Halicharan Narzary; Bartholomew Ogbeche.
ATK Mohun Bagan (4-2-3-1): Vishal Kaith; Asish Rai, Pritam Kotal, Brendan Hamill, Sumit Rathi; Slavko Damjanovic, Glan Martins; Md. Fardin Ali Molla, Federico Gallego, Liston Colaco; Dimitri Petratos.
Prediction
While the head-to-head records favour ATK Mohun Bagan, Hyderabad has had a better overall campaign thus far. Given that the Mariners are also dealing with multiple injuries and will be playing away from home, we have predicted the Nizams to take all three points from this fixture.