For Mumbai City FC and coach Alexandre Guimares, this marks the beginning of a hectic four game schedule which sees them play Delhi, Goa, Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC.
Guimares accepted as much when it asked if he would field the best XI: “Well, it depends on what kind of feedback I get from our medical department and our physios. So for now the players who have more minutes of playing time, they feel ok. Nothing in the statistics that we have tells that we have to make drastic changes.”
Marquee Diego Forlan has missed the last two matches through injury and will be absent for this one. Sony Norde came off the bench the last time and could be in line for a return to the starting eleven.
Pronay Halder, sent off in the match against Atletico de Kolkata, will be in line for a return as he completes his one-match suspension. He will partner Hungarian Kristian Vadocz and Sehnaj Singh in the middle.
Delhi Dynamos are unbeaten so far and will looking for their first win at home and their second overall. Coach Gianluca Zambrotta seems to have arrived at a stable starting line-up as his team has done fairly well in their three matches so far.
They conceded only one goal in their draw to NorthEast, but the entire defence was culpable for that goal, something that will not please the World Cup winning defender Zambrotta.
He spoke about maintaining an identity in the run-up to the match, "You are right when you say that they start differently in different games but for us it is important that we maintain the team identity. So of course we will also adapt [to different situations] from match to match but our identity is most important.”
The Italian is not expected to make too many changes to the starting line-up with Florent Malouda expected to come in for Memo, who had a poor game last time around.
Match Facts
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi
Capacity: 60,000
Time: 7 pm IST.
Last Meeting: Delhi Dynamos FC 1-1 Mumbai City FC, November 6th, 2015, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
Head-to-head: Matches: 4, Delhi: 1, Mumbai: 2, Draws: 1
Key Battles
Matias Defederico vs Ruben: The young Argentine has been sparkling form in this ISL, and has scored two goals for Mumbai City so far. Will look to hassle the opposition defence.
Ruben, the tough Spaniard didn't have the greatest of games last time around against NorthEast. He was troubled by Nico Velez's pace and could end up second best to Defederico.
Kean Lewis vs Aiborlang Khongjee: The young Indian left-winger Lewis has been dynamic in this season and has one goal and one assist to his name. Possessing raw pace and good creating abilities, has been one of the few Indian bright spots in the ISL so far.
Khongjee had difficulty in dealing with Kervens Belfort of the Blasters and allowed the Haitian to cut in time and again. Will find it difficult against Lewis.
Expected Line-ups
Delhi Dynamos FC: Antonio Doblas Santana; Ruben Gonzalez RochaChinglesana Konsham Singh, Lalchhawnkima, Souvik Chakraborty; Florent Malouda, Marcos Tebar, Milan Singh; Richard Gadze, Marcelinho, Kean Lewis
Mumbai City FC: Roberto Volpato Neto; Lucian Goian, Facundo Cardozo, Anwar Ali, Aiborlang Khongjee; Krisztian Vadocz, Pronay Halder, Sehnaj Singh ; Jackichand Singh, Matias Defederico, Sony Norde
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