Mumbai City vs Jamshedpur: Preview and Prediction
Reigning champions Mumbai City and Jamshedpur will cross swords in ‘Match 23’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season on Friday at the Fatorda Stadium. It will be fair to say this match will be a battle between two prime title contenders in the ongoing ISL season.
Having won three of their four matches, Mumbai City is placed at the top of the standings with nine points to their name. Jamshedpur is in second place after winning and drawing two matches each so far. Barring Chennaiyin, the Red Miners are the only team to have remained unbeaten so far.
How have they done so far?
Defending champions Mumbai City had a fantastic start to their campaign as they handed Goa a 3-0 drubbing in their season opener. The second fixture against Hyderabad, however, came as a shock as the Nizams emerged as 3-1 winners.
Des Buckingham’s team has been sensational ever since winning their last two fixtures in a convincing manner. They maintained their 100% win record against ATK Mohun Bagan by beating them 5-1 before handing former champions Bengaluru a 3-1 defeat.
Jamshedpur did not have the greatest of starts to the season as they somehow salvaged a 1-1 draw against East Bengal in their first match but then won 3-1 against Goa. Owen Coyle’s team was restricted to another 1-1 draw by Hyderabad in their third fixture but they produced a comeback once again beating ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1 in their last fixture.
Head to Head Record
Jamshedpur boasts an upper hand in terms of head-to-head records but their trophy cabinet is empty while Mumbai City has one ISL Shield and one title. The Juggernauts have won four of the eight meetings against the Islanders while Mumbai has beaten them only twice with two games ending in draws.
One of those draws came in the first meeting between these two teams last season, where Nerijus Valskis gave Jamshedpur an early lead before Bartholomew Ogbeche restored parity. In the second game, however, Coyle’s men emerged as 2-0 winners against the eventual champions, thanks to goals from Boris Singh and David Grande.
Team News
Peter Hartley is expected to retain his place in the Jamshedpur starting XI
Buckingham fielded an unchanged starting XI in the last game against Bengaluru and we can expect the same in this match as well. Hero of the 5-1 triumph against the Mariners, Vikram Pratap Singh did have a tough time down the right flank against the Blues, but the former New Zealand U23 manager is unlikely to take the youngster out of the firing line for the upcoming fixture.
Among the foreigners, Cassinho has not been flawless, but with Brad Inman failing to have any sort of impact in his substitute appearances, the Brazilian attacking midfielder is likely to retain his place.
The decision to field both Eli Sabia and Peter Hartley in central defense against the Mariners worked wonders for Coyle’s team and we can expect the experienced duo to marshall Jamshedpur’s backline in this game as well.
There is a downside to this strategy as the former Burnley manager had to replace Alex Lima with Pronay Halder in the midfield to maintain overseas count and the India international did not look too convincing in the position. Hence, it will be interesting to see if Coyle breaks his well-drilled defensive pairing to have more stability in midfield.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Mumbai City (4-2-3-1): Mohamad Nawaz; Amey Ranawade; Mourtada Fall, Rahul Bheke, Mandar Rao Dessai; Apuia Ralte, Ahmed Jahouh; Vikram Pratap Singh, Cassinho, Bipin Singh; Igor Angulo.
Jamshedpur (4-4-2): TP Rehenesh; Laldinliana Renthlei, Peter Hartley, Eli Sabia, Ricky Lallawmawma; Seimenlen Doungel, Jitendra Singh, Pronay Halder, Komal Thatal; Nerijus Valskis, Greg Stewart.
Prediction
The Islanders might be slightly ahead in terms of quality on paper, but Jamshedpur has proven time and again that they are an extraordinarily tough nut to crack and tend to step up whenever they are up against Mumbai City. Hence, we have predicted a 1-1 draw for this top-of-the-table clash.