Mumbai City FC face Atletico de Kolkata in the match 52 of Indian Super League at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
Mumbai City managed just 12 points from as many matches and are virtually out of reckoning for a semi-final berth. Mumbai City will now need to win all their remaining two matches and also hope that the results of other matches go their way to have any chance for an unlikely qualification.
Delhi Dynamos’s Saturday’s win over FC Pune City keeps everybody theoretically in contention for a semi-final slot and Mumbai City will hope to keep their hopes alive with a win.
Atletico de Kolkata have just one win from their last eight matches that have moved them down to the third spot with 18 point from 12 matches. Kolkata need only one win from their remaining two matches to qualify for the Semifinals.
Team News:
Mumbai City FC:
Injuries to their key players like Freddie Ljungberg, André Moritz and Nicolas Anelka have not helped Mumbai’s cause. Andre Moritz sustained a hamstring injury against Chennaiyin FC in their last home game and is struggling to be fit for the match. Nicolas Anelka has skipped the last three marches with a groin complaint and remains doubtful for this penultimate match. Ljungberg has been the team’s biggest disappointment in their inaugural season campaign with the Swedish midfielder looking visibly unfit picking up niggling injuries to be out of action for the better part of the tournament. However, there is a chance that Nicolas Anelka could feature in today’s match.
Mumbai City FC Possible Starting Eleven:
Subrata Paul ; Manuel Friedrich , Syed Rahim Nabi , Jan Stohanzl , Peter Costa , Tiago Ribeiro , Pavel Cmvos , Deepak Mondal , Johan Letzelter , Subhash Singh , Nicolas Anelka
Atletico de Kolkata:
Atletico de Kolkata would be eyeing a win to seal a spot in the semiinals. After being table toppers in the league the Kolkata side has slipped to the third spot but a win against Mumbai will assure them a berth in the play-offs.
Kolkata would be without the services of Spanish midfielder Jofre Mateu Gonzalez has been ruled out after picking up a ligament injury. Fikru has not been scoring of late but he still is a huge threat with his physical presence. Luis Garcia will be back for today’s match after not featuring in Kolkata’s last match.
Atletico de Kolkata Possible Starting Eleven:
A.Edel ; Arnab Mondal , Josemi , Rakesh Masih , Nallappan Mohanraj , Kingshuk Debnath , Ofentse Nato , Borja Fernandes , Luis Garcia , Baljit Sahni , Fikru Teferra
Manager Quotes:
Mumbai City FC manager Peter Reid:
“I will make no excuses for our form. We have been very very poor and I just want the team to go out and play for the fans tomorrow. It is our last home game so we would want to end it on a high.
“I do not mean this as an excuse but our main players just have not played enough. Moritz and Anelka have had a stop-start season and both of them have trained lightly and we will assess them tomorrow again to know if they will be fit to start. But Ljungberg is not fit so he will not play but Anelka has a really good chance of being involved in the game so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Kolkata are a good side and we will be looking to beat them and hopefully prevent them from doing the double over us.”
Atletico de Kolkata team manager Rajat Ghosh Dastidar :
“As a team we have all been privileged to be a part of it. It has been a wonderful tournament and we all have learnt a lot from it. I believe that it is a boon for Indian football and we would want to work on our grassroots programmes to ensure that all the learnings are transmitted to the young kids.”
“Mumbai have been unfortunate in this tournament but they have some fantastic players and even if their top players do not play I know some of the boys who will replace them. Mumbai wouldn’t want us to beat them again so I am sure that it will be a tough game for us tomorrow. But I know that if we perform anywhere close to our fullest potential we can obtain a positive result.”
Recent Form (Most Recent First):
Mumbai City FC : DDLLL
Atletico de Kolkata: DWLDD
Prediction:
Mumbai City FC 0 – 2 Atletico de Kolkata
Picture Courtesy: Indian Super League
