PREVIEW: Mumbai City are clear favourites against depleted Pune in Maharashtra derby
THE MAHARASHTRA FRANCHISES OF the Indian Super League begin their season with a much-anticipated Derby encounter at the Shiv Chatrapati Shivaji Complex in Balewadi, Pune later today. Both sides will miss key players who have left to join the Indian national team for their World Cup qualifier match against Turkmenistan on the 8th.
It's Pune City who have been hit by the national team fixtures more than anyone else, with four of their top local players being called up to play for the Blue Tigers, including Bikash Jairu, Jackichand Singh, Pritam Kotal and their top buy from the Auction, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, leaving them vulnerable, especially in the midfield. Mumbai City have also contributed their top Auction buy Sunil Chhetri as well as Subrata Pal to the national team.
Mumbai City, however, suffered an extra blow when attacking midfielder Lalrindika Ralte sustained an injury that ruled him out for the entire ISL season. As a replacement, they have flown in 28 year old Thangjam Saran Singh on loan from Salgaocar FC. The Manipuri medio, who has played for Churchill Brothers and JCT in the past, has an exceptional trophy luck, having collected winners' medals in two I-League's, 1 Federation Cup, 1 IFA Shield, and 3 Durand Cups. Last season he scored the deciding goal in the Durand Cup final that rendered Salgaocar victorious over Bengaluru FC.
Mumbai City player-coach Nicolas Anelka will be confident going into this match after the pre-season his team has had in Dubai and back home. Many of his players, like Frederic Piquionne, Sony Norde and Andrew Moritz have been in goalscoring form. But the find of the pre-season has been young Brandon Fernandes, whose brilliant touch and eye for goal that helped Sporting Clube de Goa avoid relegation in 2014-15 was on display again in the last few friendlies Mumbai City have played.
As for Pune City, the presence of ex Juventus and Chelsea forward Adrian Mutu and an in-form Kalu Uche means that the forward line is taken care of. The midfield features the leadership of Didier Zokora, the most capped player of Ivory Coast. In the defence, the seasoned Gourmangi Singh might be seen pairing up with ex West Ham, Birmingham and Cardiff City player Roger Johnson. In the absence of Eugeneson and Bikash, coach David Platt may decide to use the likes of Lenny Rodrigues and Israil Gurung to take up their place. But there will be a significant fall in quality that Nicolas Anelka is well aware of, and will look to exploit on.
Anekla himself will not miss his players out on national duty as deeply as Platt. Debjit Majumder, the Mohun Bagan keeper who played a great role in their I-League winning campaign and was given the 'Best Keeper of the Season' award, is a likely choice to replace Subrata Pal under the post.
Sunil Chhetri, although a star in the team, has not shown great form during pre-season. Coach Anelka will be just as happy to let Frederic Piquionne backed up by wingers Sony Norde and Subhash Singh handle the offence. In the midfield, they have stingers Brandon Fernandes and Andre Moritz who like to get in on the scoring themselves, giving them one of the most diverse attacks in the tournament. Their defence features experienced imports like Darren O'Dea and Pavel Cmvos, with talented Indians like Ashutosh Mehta and Lalchhuan Mawia to back them up.
Overall, Mumbai City will go into the game as clear favourites. David Platt's boys will have a hard time fending off an attack that has so many people who can score. They will hope that their creative forward line finds an early goal, allowing them to shift the pressure on the visitors and control the game from there on.
All in all, this is a great fixture for both teams to start their ISL campaign. It carries the excitement and fever of a Derby encounter and offers the teams a fair trial, one that will make it clear to themselves where they stand in this season's pecking order.
Probable Starting Line-ups:
FC Pune City - Arindam Bhattacharya, Gurjinder Kumar, Roger Johnson, Gourmangi Singh, Dharamraj Ravanan, Didier Zokora, Lenny Rodriguez, Tuncay Sanli, Israil Gurung, Kalu Uche, Adrian Mutu
Mumbai City FC - Debjit Majumdar, Lalchhuan Mawia, Darren O'Dea, Pavel Cmvos, Ashutosh Mehta, Juan Aguilera, Andre Moritz, Brandon Fernandes, Subhash Singh, Sony Norde, Frederic Piquionne
Head to Head: Played: 2. Pune City wins: 1. Mumbai City wins: 1. Both sides won their home fixture. Highest margin: Mumbai City 5-0 Pune City. Highest Scorer: Andre Moritz (Mumbai City), 3 goals.
