Indian Football League

Match 42: NEUFC vs. MCFC

Preview

The NorthEast team is almost in the bottom of the table after a very poor start in the league and today they will face the defending champions and the current leaders of the league, Mumbai. No doubt that the Highlanders will face their toughest challenge of the league so far when they face Islanders at Pandit Jawaharlal Stadium at Fatorda.

Mumbai has suffered a defeat in the hands of Kerala in their last match. No one thought they would drop points against the Blasters but they did. Thus, expect Mumbai to come back all guns blazing for all the three points against a relatively weak NorthEast side. Their defense has been intact and the midfield has been superb. Ahmed Jahouh has been in the form of his life as he already has the highest number of assists in the tournament so far. The only problem they have is Igor Angulo’s form. You can’t really say that the former Goa striker is not in form but he is not scoring the number of goals that it was expected from him. Angulo needs to get back in his beast mode for Mumbai to score goals for fun. Something that the Islanders are known for.

Coach Des Buckingham in the pre match press conference spoke about the fact how every team has the capability of beating the other team. He said, “We're learning as this season goes on regardless of where teams are on the table right now. Any team in this league is capable of beating anybody. We've seen examples of that, not just in our games, but we've seen examples of that in the most recent games of the last round or two. So it's important regardless of what's going on in other clubs and who's available and who isn’t, that we approach and prepare for every team that we play as well as we possibly can. We know how much it means to beat the reigning champions because we've seen it now on two occasions.

Mumbai lost two of their league games this season and it is because of how Hyderabad and Kerala managed to push Jahouh and Apuia in the middle. When the coach was asked whether the team has any plan B or not, Buckingham said, “Yes, we do. It will be in full view. If teams want to press our two sixes, we need to take advantage of the other spaces in the field. And that's something we've worked hard on. We've had a bit of a break over the last six or seven days, but we've trained four or five times on the field. So we'll continue to adapt and develop our style and that includes making sure that we've got different ways of if we can't play through teams with the two sixes, we need to be better at playing around or playing over at times. And if we can't do the first one, we'll take the better option of the second before we can go back to playing through”.

NorthEast has a lot of things to sort out. They are getting the goals and VP Suhair has been clinical for them. Other than that, hardly anything is going in favour of them. They are missing Apuia in the middle of the park. He is someone who used to control the pace of the match and give the attackers a hard time in the middle. Hernan Santana has been good for the team but not how he used to be in Mumbai. To get a point or all three points, the team will be depended on these two players. Specially Suhair, who is at the heart of their attack.

 Coach Khalid Jamil is confident before his team takes on the Islanders. In the ore match press conference, the coach said, “They are at the top of the table definitely, they are a good team. We should think positive and it is not impossible that we cannot beat them. We can beat them. We have to concentrate on our game and believe in ourselves and everybody must fight. We must play as a team, as one unit”.

Speaking about his own team, the coach said, “Everybody is trying hard. That is a good thing. We need a little good luck and we need that all the players must be available because we're looking to the matches that were played until this last match and every game we have missing one or two players. Everybody is fighting. That is a positive thing. Everybody is working hard”.

NEUFC vs. MCFC Predicted Line Ups

NEUFC – Mirshad Michu (GK), Provat Lakra, Hernán Santana, Patrick Flottmann, Gurjinder Kumar, V.P. Suhair, Imran Khan, Rochharzela, Mathias Coureur, Lalkhawpuimawia, Deshorn Brown

MCFC - Mohammad Nawaz (GK), Amey Ranawade, Mourtada Fall (c), Rahul Bheke, Mandar Rao Desai, Ahmed Jahouh, Lalengmawia Ralte, Vikram Pratap Singh, Cassinho, Bipin Singh, Igor Angulo

Match Prediction

It might be a very difficult night for the Highlanders. After a shocking defeat in the hands of Kerala, the team will be going all out for the victory and a shaky NorthEast defense could be a perfect target. If NorthEast can stop Mumbai’s midfield, you can see another setback for Mumbai.

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