ISL 2024-25: Three key battles to look out for in Kolkata Derby between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal

ISL 2024-25: Three key battles to look out for in Kolkata Derby between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal

Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will clash against each other in the second Kolkata Derby of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday.

On paper, Mohun Bagan looks to have the better team a derby’s beauty lies in its unpredictability. There will be many talents on display across the pitch, which should make for an exciting clash.

Following is a look at the three key battles that could prove crucial in determining the outcome.

This battle will be one to watch out for and will be crucial for East Bengal to prevent its rival from taking the match away. The Jordan international was under fire for his sub-par performance in East Bengal’s 2-3 loss against Mumbai City.

Jamie Maclaren, on the other hand, will look to find the net once again in the Kolkata Derby, having already scored in the first derby of the season in October, where Mohun Bagan won 2-0.

With his towering presence and no-nonsense approach to defending, Hijazi was touted to be a promising prospect in the East Bengal backline, but in recent games, he has been criticised for his lack of positional awareness.

Maclaren will look to capitalise on the fact that Hijazi is not the fastest of defenders, which means that the experienced Australian forward will look for those dangerous runs behind the defence, which would leave the Hijazi with some catching up to do. And Maclaren has plenty of teammates who can find him with that final pass.

Greg Stewart, on his day, is a magical player to watch. His skill on the ball and his flair make him a difficult player to stop. With Mohun Bagan already having two forwards in Maclaren and Jason Cummings, head coach Jose Molina might opt to play Greg Stewart in the No. 10 role, especially with Anirudh Thapa scheduled to miss the clash.

If Stewart decides to play that No. 10 role, East Bengal’s holding midfielder Jeakson Singh will have to ensure Stewart does not play his natural game. Stewart, with his immaculate vision, not only can pick out the forwards with defence-splitting balls but tends to make those dangerous runs inside the opponent’s penalty area and act as the third forward.

Jeakson’s primary job would be to ensure that Stewart does not get too much space to operate and pick out his passes. He would need to be at his defensive best and rely on his ball-snatching abilities to prevent Stewart from pulling the strings.

Dimitrios Diamantakos will be tasked with the scoring duties for East Bengal, which will be a challenge in itself, given Mohun Bagan has the best defensive record till now, having conceded just 13 goals.

While the onus lies with Diamantakos in finding space in the Mariners defence, his biggest challenge would be to cope with Tom Aldred. The English defender has been excellent at the Mariners backline, showing his experience in reading the opponent’s play and being in the right place at the right time to break down opponent attacks.

However, East Bengal’s Greek forward is an experienced footballer himself and is known to be a fox-in-the-box due to his poaching abilities. His biggest challenge would be to stray away from Aldred and get in good scoring positions. Similarly, for Aldred, his job would be to ensure that the East Bengal forward does not get into those dangerous scoring positions.