Mumbai City FC, the freshly crowned league winners, will try to get back to their previous form against Bengaluru FC, who is presently leading the two-leg Hero ISL semifinal clash 1-0.
Sunil Chhetri’s late goal in the first leg at the Mumbai Football Arena gave Simon Grayson’s team a 1-0 advantage going into the second leg. This goal proved to be the deciding factor between the two teams. For Mumbai City FC, it’s all or nothing as the League Shield champions will be looking to recoup their recent three-game losing streak before it’s too late.
The second leg of the semifinal between the two teams will take place tomorrow, with the winner advancing to the championship game. Here is a little preview of the forthcoming semifinal game between Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC before it begins:
Head-to-head record
Apart from the first leg of the semifinals, the two heavyweights battled each other twice earlier this season, with each of them earning a victory. At the Mumbai Football Arena in November, when the Blues were in a complete slump, Mumbai City destroyed them 4-0. But last month in Bangalore, Grayson’s team evened out the score, winning 2-1 to end the Islanders’ aspirations of an undefeated campaign.
If previous games are any indicator, the next encounters between the two clubs are set to be close tactical contests. Bengaluru does have the advantage going into the second leg, but the Islanders have already shown they are capable of coming back in difficult circumstances.
Bengaluru’s exposed flanks are big red flags
Bengaluru FC has been relentless in their defense, although they have occasionally been exposed on the sides due to Simon Grayson’s tactical setup. The English player prefers to use a 3-5-2 formation and places a lot of emphasis on starting three strong center-backs.
Mumbai City FC will try to overload the flanks with Roy Krishna and Sivasakthi Narayanan up front and three midfielders behind them. In one-on-one scenarios, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Bipin Singh are threatening, and the Islanders’ full- backs might make overlapping runs to back them up.
Chhangte and Bipin, who have combined for 16 goals this season, will then have more room to maneuver and take advantage of. When it comes to defending the wide areas, Bengaluru FC’s center-backs Bruno Ramires and Aleksander Jovanovic are not the best. They haven’t gotten much assistance from Prabir Das and Naorem Roshan Singh either on that front.
But, the Blues have mostly neutralized the threat from the wide areas thanks to the persistent efforts of Suresh Singh Wangjam and Rohit Kumar in the middle of the field. Yet, Des Buckingham, the manager of Mumbai City, may decide to focus on this area to outplay his rivals.
Mumbai FC’s defense requires more tenacity
Bengaluru FC, on the other hand, has offensive tools that could tip the balance in their favor. For the Blues, Roy Krishna and Sivasakthi Narayanan have been in a threatening form throughout the break.
The combination of Krishna’s lightning-fast pace with Sivashakthi’s move has become Simon Grayson’s go-to recipe for quick goals. During the Blues’ nine- game winning streak, which has seen the team score 21 goals, the duo has contributed to 13 goals.
Mumbai City, on the other hand, played shoddy defense toward the end of the league stages. Also, teams have targeted them on the break since they frequently commit a large number of players forward. Bengaluru FC often enjoys letting pressure build up on them, but when their opponents lose the ball, they are merciless.