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Mumbai City FC will host high-flying Bengaluru FC at the Mumbai Football Arena in their Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 fixture on Wednesday.
The kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM IST. The Blues are unbeaten in their three games so far, collecting all nine points possible and sitting at the top of the points table. Contrastingly, the Islanders are still chasing their first win of the campaign, having drawn and lost once each in their two games so far. The Islanders are often a force to reckon with in their backyard, having netted in each of their last eight matches at home. If they score against Bengaluru FC, Mumbai City FC will equal their longest such run in the league (nine games from October 2022-February 2023), as per an ISL press release. Interestingly, they have notched over two strikes and won each of their last three encounters against Bengaluru FC. Bengaluru FC have scored 33.33 per cent of their goals in the ISL in 2024 in the opening 15 minutes of the games. This is the highest such rate for any team in the league in the aforementioned time period, showing that the Islanders' backline will have to be on their toes right from kick-off. Since the beginning of the calendar year, Mumbai City FC have netted only 8.8 percent of goals in the first 15 minutes of the matches. Mumbai City FC head coach Petr Kratky is working towards fixing his team's backline to avoid conceding strikes from set-pieces. He has stressed upon getting down to the core of the issue and resolving it for a better outcome against the Blues. "We need to get better in the area where it is hurting us. And we have to stop it as soon as possible because, in two games, we conceded five goals and four goals from set-pieces, which is unacceptable for me," Kratky said, as quoted by an ISL press release. He added, "We have to keep working and keep going. We need to analyse, and identify what is (going) wrong and have to find why. The 'why' is very important. If we know why we are conceding, why we are losing, or why we are not getting the points, then we can figure out what to fix. So, this is our and my first goal." Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza is pleased with their solid start to the campaign. However, the tactician is aware that other teams will begin catching up as the season progresses, so the Blues cannot afford to go off-guard. "Let me enjoy. Three games, three wins, and we are happy. But it is too early. These people (Mohun Bagan SG) will win a lot of matches; Mumbai City FC will be there, and Odisha FC will be there," Zaragoza said. He added, "We are going to Mumbai, and it will be difficult there." The two teams have played 16 matches in the ISL. Mumbai City FC have won eight times, whereas Bengaluru FC have emerged victorious seven times, with one match resulting in a draw. *Key Players & Milestones Sunil Chhetri has scored nine goals against Mumbai City FC in the ISL. One more strike will make him the first Indian to net 10 times against a single opponent in the competition. Mumbai City FC's Noufal PN recorded six touches inside Jamshedpur FC's box after coming on as a substitute in their last match. Only Chetri has recorded a higher tally in an ISL game since the start of 2024 among Indian players. Bengaluru FC's Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has overtaken Amrinder Singh (46) to become the goalkeeper to keep the highest number of clean sheets (47) in the ISL. (ANI)
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