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High-on-confidence Mumbai FC will be looking to secure their first home win when they host United Sports Club in an I-League 2013-14 Round- 4 encounter at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on Wednesday.
This will be Mumbai FC’s third home game in the season and they can take confidence from the fact that the same encounter last season ended 2-1 in their favour.
Hosts Mumbai FC, currently 4th on the league table, go into the game after securing their first win of the season against defending champions Churchill Brothers away in the previous round. Victory helped Mumbai FC extend their unbeaten run to three games.
On the other hand, third placed United SC (6 points) had a great start to the season winning their opening two games, before slumping to their first defeat of the season to Bengaluru FC in Round 3 and will be eager to get back.
The visitors have been dealing with injuries to key players since the start of the campaign. But strikers Ranti Martins and Eric Brown remain key players for Coach Eelco Schattorie.
On the other hand, the hosts have started to gel together and with the inclusion of attacker Sandjar Ahmadi have added experience and sting to their line up. Coach Khalid Jamil was impressed by the performance in the last round and is likely to continue the winning combination.
Fact is, Mumbai FC has travelled with the same 18-man squad that played in Goa.
Striker Orok Essien and new-arrival Sandjar Ahmadi’s partnership upfront has been great. The Nigerian got on the scoresheet against Churchill while the Afghan striker Ahmadi settled in quickly.
The backline led by goalkeeper Kunal Sawant and defenders Haroon Amiri along with Anwar Ali and Kamaljeet Kumar kept the first clean sheet of the season and is a much stronger unit now.
Coach Jamil expects his team to put up a good show on Wednesday.
“The team is fit and is raring to go. The win has lifted the morale of the team. We hope to extend the away success into our home game,” said Jamil.
Ghanian striker Yusif Yakubu has not yet joined the team with the club still awaiting his arrival.
Mumbai FC, interestingly, have a better record against United SC. Out of 13 encounters in all competitions, the hosts have five wins compared to United SC’s four. A win on the morrow will fortify the home side’s record against their Kolkata counterparts.
The game kicks off at 7.00 pm on Wednsesday.
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