PREVIEW: Gaurs at home are a formidable foe for Mumbai, but an upset can't be ruled out

AT FIRST GLANCE, FC Goa and Mumbai City are far apart. Goa are at the top of the ISL points table, and Mumbai are 6th. Goa, under Zico, have been one of the most consistent sides in the ISL, both this year and the last. Mumbai City, on the other hand, have been one of the strugglers. They fell well short of a semi-final berth last year, and on a surface level their record this year has been similar to the last.

Yet, if Mumbai City manage to beat FC Goa tomorrow, they will make a gigantic leap from the 6th place to the very top of the table. Apart from the sheer tight state of the ISL table where all 8 teams are separated by just 5 points, adding further pressure on the table toppers will be the fact that in the previous leg, Mumbai City had convincingly beaten FC Goa 2-0 at D Y Patil.

Things have changed since that match happened. That match was in the middle of the Mumbai City purple patch -- a succession of home games that helped the franchise revive its campaign. Anelka's boys are now having to deal with travelling between every game and they have had a hard time matching up to the challenge they were facing. Although when put into context of the 4-1 defeat to Atletico de Kolkata at home, the draws at Delhi and Pune don't look too bad. The 0-0 draw against Pune was especially significant because they played without two of their most creative striking forces; Sunil Chhetri and Sony Norde were both away on national duty. Their defence did a great job keeping out a team that had beaten them 3-1 in the first leg.

For Goa, things have looked up since they lost to Mumbai City. They have played Pune City twice, ending up with a draw on both occasions. They beat Chennaiyin FC away from home. They have also had a 9 day rest before this game. Also, they will have the home advantage, which makes them the de facto favourites ahead of this particular encounter. 

Boosting Zico's confidence will be the way the team handled themselves at Balewadi. They went a goal down in a stadium that has been particularly unkind to visitors, then managed to equalise, even get a lead, only to concede in the last minutes. Points were dropped, but that top-of-the-table clash showed consistency and belief among the players; and the fact that after a rather shaky start to the season they had finally found their footing.

Now, standing on the verge of securing a top four spot for themselves, Goa will definitely want a win at the home ground. They have the chance to establish themselves as the undisputed table toppers, and to make a statement by extracting revenge for the loss in the first leg. Zico may want to mostly stick to the team that he fielded against Pune City to maintain consistency; perhaps with the exception of Luciano Sabrosa coming in for Lucio. 

Mumbai City will be happy to welcome back Sunil Chhetri into the squad. But in the absence of Sony Norde he might have to take care of the left flank, while leaving the number 10 role to Nicolas Anelka. But not having their most creative attacker available while playing the table toppers away from home is certainly not the way player-coach Anelka would have wanted things to be.

The task Mumbai City face at Fatorda is undoubtedly monumentous, but so is the award. So while they have every reason to be happy with a draw from this one, if they do go all out for a win here it will make for a highly entertaining game. Last time Goa lost at home was more than a month ago, against Chennaiyin FC. But if Mumbai City can pull it off it will be the biggest upset of the season yet. The league table will look radically different with Mumbai City at the top and all the ongoing speculations about the fate of the title race will go for a toss, yet again. 

But considering how many major upsets we have already had this season, it's not a possibility that can be readily ruled out for tomorrow's game.  

Probable Starting Line-Ups:

FC Goa - Laxmikant Kattmani, Gregory Arnolin, Lucio, Raju Gaikwad, Narayan Das, Jonatan Lucca, Leo Moura, Romeo Fernandes, Rafael Coelho, Boithang Haokip

Mumbai City FC - Subrata Paul, Derrick Pereira, Darren O'Dea, Pavel Cmovs, Ashutosh Mehta, Selim Benachour, Cristian Bustos, Subash Singh, Nicolas Anelka, Sunil Chhetri, Frederic Piquionne