Semi-Final 2 – Hyderabad vs ATK Mohun Bagan: Preview and Prediction
Hyderabad will take on ATK Mohun Bagan in the first leg of ‘Semi-Final 2’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Saturday.
Both sides will be eager to put up a strong display after narrowly missing out on the ISL League Winners’ Shield despite being the league leaders at different stages of the league campaign.
Hyderabad played well throughout the season and finished their league stage campaign in the second position, having accumulated 38 points from 20 matches. They have made a name for themselves for their excellent attacking contingent and have scored the most goals in the league phase – 43.
On the other hand, ATK Mohun Bagan was not particularly impressive at the start of the season but the appointment of Juan Ferrando as their head coach has worked like a charm. The Mariners finished in third place, with 37 points in their account from 20 matches.
Current Form
The Hyderabad camp will be fairly confident coming into this match as they won their last match against Mumbai City by a 2-1 margin, despite missing quite a few key players owing to multiple reasons.
It was a crucial victory as before meeting the Islanders, Manolo Marquez’s men suffered a morale-dampening 3-0 defeat against Jamshedpur. That being said, the Nizams won 2-1 against Kerala Blasters in the preceding game.
Like their opposition, ATK Mohun Bagan has also gathered six points from their previous three matches. However, the Mariners will not be as confident as Hyderabad ahead of this game, as they lost 1-0 against Jamshedpur in their last match.
Before facing the shield winners, Ferrando’s men registered two consecutive triumphs against two South Indian opponents in Chennaiyin and Bengaluru. The scoreline was 1-0 against the Marina Machans and 2-0 against the Blues.
Head to Head Record
The matches involving these two sides have always been closely-contested, as three of the four meetings have ended in stalemates. In the only game that produced a result, ATK Mohun Bagan bagged the three points.
The first leg of this season produced a thrilling 2-2 draw, where a David Williams strike and an own goal by Asish Rai comprised the two goals scored by the Mariners, whereas Bartholomew Ogbeche and Javi Siverio were on target for the Nizams. The return leg saw Ferrando’s team walking away with a 2-1 triumph. Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh scored for the Kolkata giants, whereas Joal Chianese was the lone scorer for Marquez’s team.
Team News
Bartholomew Ogbeche seems all set to be back in the Hyderabad starting XI
Marquez is likely to make three tweaks to the team that won 2-1 against Mumbai City. The most important change is likely to be made upfront, as Ogbeche seems all set to make a comeback after regaining match sharpness.
Siverio might have to make way for the Nigerian marksman, despite not doing much wrong in the last game. Besides that, we could also see changes in the full-back positions, with Rai and Akash Mishra likely to replace Nim Dorjee Tamang and Nikhil Poojary respectively.
Ferrando is expected to make four changes to his starting XI after a 1-0 defeat against Jamshedpur. Roy Krishna is unlikely to be available as he has been called up by the Fiji national team for their upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.
In his absence, Australian striker Williams is likely to lead the lines for the Mariners. Fit-again Hugo Boumous is expected to replace Carl McHugh, while in the middle of the park, Deepak Tangri might be preferred to Lenny Rodrigues. Besides that, despite being the captain of the team, Pritam Kotal might have to make way for Ashutosh Mehta after a poor performance against the Red Miners.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Hyderabad (4-2-3-1): Laxmikant Kattimani; Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Juanan, Akash Mishra; Sauvik Chakrabarti, Khassa Camara; Mohammad Yasir, Joel Chianese, Rohit Danu; Bartholomew Ogbeche.
ATK Mohun Bagan (4-2-3-1): Amrinder Singh; Ashutosh Mehta, Sandesh Jhingan, Tiri, Subhasish Bose; Joni Kauko, Deepak Tangri; Liston Colaco, Hugo Boumous, Manvir Singh; David Williams.
Prediction
As head-to-head statistics and the current league standings will testify, there is hardly anything to separate these two teams. Hence, we have predicted a 1-1 stalemate for this game.