This season, teams are allowed to make 5 substitutions per match. It's to make up for the fact that players may not be at their peak fitness level due to the pandemic hampering their normal preparations.
What this means is that many teams will be reaching deeper into their rosters for matchday squads. More players will get game time.
In this situation, a squad with more expeirence may have the upper hand. And this is where Mohun Bagan have a slight advantage. The average age of the Mariners' squad is 26.1, while the Blasters are at a robust 25.5. Not that big a difference on paper, but KBFC have recently invested in a bunch of promising young players like Shaiborlang Kharpan, Abdul Hakku, Ayush Adhikari, Ritwik Das etc. This is great in the long run but in the immediate future, relying on them as regular backups may not pay off. The Mohun Bagan squad is relatively deeper in terms of sheer match experience at the top division.
There is, however, a different way to look at it. Having more young, fitter players may also turn out to be a boon for KBFC. A recent example would be the Blasters' own match with Indian Arrows at the Super Cup, where the Arrows youngsters simply outran their experienced opponents and claimed the victory. And given fitness is expected to be an even more pronounced factor this season, and Habas's complaints about not being adequately prepared, could youth be an extra weapon in KBFC's arsenal especially in the last quarter? It'll be interesting to see.