The 2022-23 Indian Super League winners Mohun Bagan Super Giant will travel to Guwahati to take on NorthEast United at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. This matchday 10 fixture from the 2023-24 Indian Super League season is scheduled to kick off on Friday at 8 PM.
The Guwahati-based club have already recorded double the number of points they did in the entire last season. In the 2022-23 season, the Highlanders accumulated only 5 points finishing at the bottom of the league standings. With 10 points to their name in nine outings, the home team is currently sixth on the points table and they are still in the race for a spot in the playoffs.
On the other hand, the visitors are currently third on the points table. They have carried on from where they had left last time out. In only 6 matches, the Mariners have secured 16 points.
Current Form
The team from Assam is winless in their last four outings and has secured just two points thanks to draws against Bengaluru and Hyderabad at home. Before playing out a draw against Hyderabad, the Highlanders had suffered a 5-0 humiliation at the hands of East Bengal away from home.
Juan Pedro Benali’s team last won a league fixture back in October. They managed to seal an impressive 2-1 win over Jamshedpur with Míchel Zabaco and Ibson Melo scoring in injury time to complete an incredible comeback.
The Kolkata-based club is unbeaten in the 2023-24 Indian Super League season. After defeating Punjab, Bengaluru, Chennaiyin, Jamshedpur, and Hyderabad, the Mariners drew 2-2 against Odisha coming back from a 2-0 deficit courtesy of a second-half brace from Armando Sadiku.
But it hasn’t been an easy AFC Cup campaign for Juan Ferrando’s men. After a 1-0 defeat to Maldivian outfit Maziya S&RC on matchday 6, MBSG disappointingly ended their continental journey this season.
Head to Head Record
MBSG has the upper hand against NorthEast United when it comes to the head-to-head results. The Kolkata-based club have won five of the eight matches played between the two teams. The home team have only come out on top twice with one match ending with points shared between the two sides from the eastern part of the country.
While the Mariners have dominated the proceedings in the recent past, the Guwahati-based club will be determined to stop them in their tracks and return to winning ways. Last time when the two teams squared up against each other at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, the Guwahati-based club came out on top with Wilmar Jordan Gill netting the only goal of the match.
Team News
Juan Pedro Benali saw four of his players get cautioned in the 1-1 draw last time out against Thangboi Singto’s Hyderabad with Asheer Akhtar collecting his fourth yellow card of the season.
This means the 28-year-old defender will serve a game suspension against MBSG. The Spaniard can solve this problem by replacing Akhtar in his starting XI with central defender Yaser Hamed. Apart from that they do not have any fresh injury concerns.
The Mariners have six of their first-choice players injured and unavailable for the next fixture
Meanwhile, the Mariners are going through an injury crisis as Juan Ferrando will be without the services of Manvir Singh, Dimitri Petratos, Anwar Ali, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Ashique Kuruniyan for this fixture.
While Kuruniyan and Ali are unlikely to feature for MBSG again this season, Abdul Samad is expected to be back for the crucial fixtures against Goa and Kerala Blasters either side of Christmas.
Predicted Starting XIs
NorthEast United (4-2-3-1): Mirshad Michu; Dinesh Singh, Yaser Hamed, Míchel Zabaco, Tondonba Singh; Pragyan Gogoi, Gani Nigam; Phalguni Singh, Romain Philippoteaux, Jithin MS; Néstor Albiach.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant (3-5-2): Vishal Kaith; Héctor Yuste, Brendan Hamill, Subhasish Bose; Asish Rai, Kiyan Nassiri, Glan Martins, Deepak Tangri, Liston Colaco; Armando Sadiku, Jason Cummings.
Prediction
Last season, NorthEast United had won their home game against MBSG but they might find it very difficult this time out.
Although the visitors are heading into this fixture on the back of a defeat in the AFC Cup, Ferrando fielded a second-string outfit allowing the first-team players to take a rest before four consecutive ISL fixtures in a space of 12 days.
Their recent form in the ISL and their head-to-head record suggest the Kolkata-based club will have the upper hand.