The D-Day is here and all the traffic will lead to the Yuva Bharati Krirangan for the Indian Super League La grande finale. Mohun Bagan will meet their final hurdle of Mumbai City FC to achieve the League double and the most desired treble for the season. Both the teams in their top form but Kolkata is acting like a hell for the visiting teams in their last few games. Mohun Bagan team is charged up and looking to overturn all the odds to aim for the Final trophy of the season.
Mohun Bagan probably sticks their normal game play and set their formation to 3-5-2 or 3-1-2-3 method. After the extended suspension of Armando Sadiku we all know that he will not be a part of the final and Jason Cummings will start for sure. In the defense we saw a hamstring pull for Anwar Ali but he is currently fit for the final and Mohun Bagan will certainly field their unchanged backline. In the midfield Dipak Tangri might get a start along with Joni Kauko and Anirudh Thapa. Although, Sahal scored the all important 2nd goal for the team in their last match. But, with his current form it is very difficult for the coach to replace Anirudh Thapa with Sahal in the starting XI.
Although, inclusion of Sahal could be a very smart move as Mumbai yet to face him in their last two league game against Mohun Bagan. Two of the Mohun Bagan’s winger Liston and Manvir is in blistering form. Manvir rightly adjudged player of the match against Odisha and the way he helped the team in defense and in attack it was incredible. Liston also in his previous match against Mumbai played a deciding role. He not only scored the first goal against Mumbai but helped immensely in defense to cater the threat of Lallianzuala Chhangte in the wing. Petratos the goals scorer of last year ISL Final will look into the game and add to his tally and so is Jason Cummings who also has a habit of scoring goals in Cup Final.
Mumbai City on the other hand nothing to loose because if they face defeat tomorrow against Mohun Bagan it will going to be a trophyless season for them. They have struggled against Goa in their first leg trailing for the most part of the game but suddenly turn the game on their head in a span of 6 minutes. In that match we saw their weak link in right back position where Mehtab Sing was not at all comfortable. We all know that Mehtab Singh is a genuine centre back and Rahul Bheke is a Right full back but to our surprise the coach Kratky keep playing them in their unusual position. Mumbai coach Petr Kratky’s main advantage is his Indian brigade and with Vikram Pratap Singh will be playing in the left hand side it will be a great headache for Mohun Bagan Team. Mumbai will certainly miss the service of Yoell van Nieff who has been suspended because of back to back yellow card in their Semi final clash and to void that gap Mumbai might play Apuia as a defensive midfielder. Mumbai will definitely play a attacking game which suits them immensely but whether they have the fire power to beat the resilient defense of Mohun Bagan that will be a huge question.
This match will going to be the clash of the wingers as both the teams having best pair of wingers in India. The one who achieve to outsmart their opponents through the wings will definitely be the winner of the match. One more important thing is that Chhangte has the habit of coming direct to the box from the wings and he was the difference maker against FC Goa game where they trailing by 2-0 till the 9th minute of the game.
There is also a huge problem in regard to the ticket distribution system as majority of the fans have not had the tickets for the final. Many newspaper outlet reported that FSDL blocked a significant number of tickets for their sponsors and Mumbai City FC which is very unfortunate. We have seen in their last 2 home matches Mariners pouring in the ground and a record number of 61,777 and 62.007 official attendance was recorded. It is better that FSDL will soon realize the ground reality and release the further tickets to the general fans. The match will going to start from 7:30 and a electrifying VYBK awaits to greet the teams for the Final.
Predicted XI:
Kick off Time: 7:30PM(IST)
Live telecast/streaming: JioCinema, Sports18 3, DD Bangla, OneFootball(International)
Venue: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata.
