ISL 2024-25: East Bengal looks to return to winning form as it meets Mumbai City at home
ISL 2024-25: East Bengal looks to return to winning form as it meets Mumbai City at home
East Bengal FC will be looking to regain its winning form as it hosts the reigning Indian Super League Cup winner Mumbai City FC at Salt Lake Stadium here on Monday.
The confidence in East Bengal’s ranks hinges on the turnaround it has made in the last six outings where it has won four, drew and lost once each.
A successful result will mark only the second time EBFC defeated MCFC ever since the former joined ISL in 2020. Having drawn 1-1 while visiting Hyderabad FC in its previous match, EBFC will be keen to regain the winning rhythm at home, as it had done against its previous two opponents – Jamshedpur FC and Punjab FC.
EBFC head coach Oscar Bruzon spoke about his team’s impressive turnaround and hoped that it would be able to do well against MCFC.
“We had a good end to the year. December gave us the desired results. So obviously, our confidence is high going into the match and we have to keep working on that,” Bruzon said.
Situated in the 10th spot in the current standings with 14 points from 13 matches, it is essential for EBFC to pick up points in the home games if it is to make it to the knockout stage for the first time.
On the other hand, MCFC will also be trying to put itself back on the rails after suffering a 0-3 loss against NorthEast United FC, a result that had ended a four-game unbeaten run.
EBFC comes into this match with an improved performance which is reflected in the fact that it has found the net in all its last six outings.
This is contrasted against the defensive firmness of MCFC in its away fixtures. The Islanders have kept clean sheets in their last two away games and will be trying for a third successive one. Having slipped to the seventh place in the standings with 20 points from 13 matches, MCFC will be eager to collect points and get back into the top six in the table.
“We have to be energised from the first minute. The intensity needs to be there, and we have to learn from our mistakes from the previous game to do better in our upcoming match,” said the Mumbai City FC head coach Petr Kratky.
