PREVIEW: Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC must find a remedy for the lack-of-goals ailment

AS THE CHAMPIONS STRUGGLE TO FIND the back of the net as fluidly as they would expect, they hosted by a team that is running of same wavelength of the problems. We preview how this encounter as turned up the years, understand the trouble that both teams are going through and give our prediction based on those lines

The Past

Bengaluru FC have faced Mumbai FC three times in three previous I-League seasons at the Cooperage and have not won a single off the three. Two of the results have finished in draws and have lost one occasion.

Although there have been numerous changes in both camps, there was always one factor that has not changed all three meetings. It is that of the Mumbai FC's former coach Khalid Jamil. Over the period, Khalid's aim for the club too had remained constant. It was the same philosophy that got the results going Mumbai FC's way in those years. The philosophy of the coach, on lines of the club management's aim, has been to avoid relegation.

But it is not just Bengaluru FC that have failed to win at the Cooperage but the all time home game results for Mumbai FC tell the same tale. Many teams have found it tough to beat the Mumbaikars at the home turf. In the many matches played, Mumbai have only lost a handful in total. Given the history of a low winning record for away teams at the Cooperage, it will definitely not be an easy game to score in.

The Present

The defending champions must have never imagined themselves at mid-table at the start of the season ever. To make things worse they are already half way through the league and nine points adrift the current league leaders. The worrying factor is not bridging the gap in points with the top placed teams; it is in the way the champions finishing games. Scoring is the precise problem of the 2-time I-League champions. After winning the first three games in convincing fashion, they seem to suffer from a drought of goals. This can be seen in their form. After scoring, eight in the first three games without conceding any, they have scored just 6 goals in the last 5 games.

The form of Mumbai FC is worse than that of the defending champions. The team under Santosh Kashyap has taken just one point from seven games. The coach is still optimistic about a top three finish as the vision was set at the season start. Let alone scoring, the Mumbai FC team has been far from creating threatening chances to play the "good performance but poor result" card. Mumbai FC for all the attacking football talks, have scored just 6 goals to match the tall claim; only Minerva Punjab have scored fewer than Mumbai.

The Prediction

As the hourglass of the season has been turned upside down, Benglauru FC and Mumbai FC must start to find a remedy for the lack-of-goals ailment both teams are suffering from the past 5 or 6 games. But knowing the history of Cooperage, it may leave the fans left hungry to see a good rain of goals.

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