Hyderabad will take on the league-leaders Mumbai in Indian Football League to extend the winning run to three matches. Both sides are in the top four, and most probably, both will make it into the playoffs.
Match Timings: Jan 16, 7:30 PM IST
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Hyderabad will face the mighty Mumbai side in the Saturday encounter of Indian Football League 2020-21. Nizams have impressed with the performance and bounced back after three straight defeats. After edging past Chennai, Hyderabad overcame Northeast 4-2 with a second-half brilliance. In just the third minute, Joel Chianese made a good pass to Aridane Santana, and the skipper sent the ball past Subhasish Roy. The Highlanders continued to dominate after conceding the lead, and Machado tried to find an equaliser. After the cooling break, Joel Chianese found his name on the scoresheet to double the lead. Going into the break, Halicharan Narzary conceded a penalty, and Northeast struck the goal through Gallego. Benjamin Lambot added one more goal, and the first half ended on 2-2.
Luis Machado looked dominating for the Northeast, but unfortunately, he couldn’t score in this match. Laxmikant Kattimani also came to the rescue with good saves. When the game was heading towards a draw, the drama appeared as substitute Liston Colaco scored a brace to make the scoreline 4-2 in favor of Nizams. Colaco’s class in the second half boosted Hyderabad, and he is a perfect player for the second half. He scored two assists against Bengal last month, and the brace against Northeast proved how this youngster is a future star of Indian Football. Hyderabad takes the spot in the top four, and they have to continue the consistency. They are the underdogs after the inclusion of Santana, and Marquez Roca would be hoping to give a tough time to Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the Islanders are having a dream season with Sergio Lobero, and they have tightened the grip on the top spot with 25 points. Mumbai are 5-points ahead of the Mariners and 10-points better than the Nizams. Mumbai secured a fabulous win over the 2nd placed Mariners, and the victory in the previous game took their winless streak to 9 matches. Mumbai dominated the possession, and Habas’ men had no answer against Hugo Boumous and Hernan Santana, who led the midfield. Manvir Singh almost scored an own goal, but the Mariners survived Ogbeche’s attack. The counter-attack started from Kolkata giants through David Williams, Roy Krishna, and Manvir Singh. After a goalless first-half, Habas changed the formation, and the Mariners tried to replicate their 2nd half form. They got an early free-kick, and Edu Garcia found the target, but Amrinder Singh denied it.
In the 61st minute, CY Goddard set up a good cross to Ogbeche, but Arindam Bhattacharya blocked the shot. Eight minutes later, Ogbeche curled the ball inside the goal post to provide a crucial lead to Islanders. Mumbai proved one more time that they are going to overcome every opponent this season. They had 61% of the possession and played more than double the number of passes than the Mariners. Mumbai should walk away with another three points on Saturday night, but Habas cannot take Nizams lightly. Ahmed Jahouh will be back in the side after serving the suspension in the last game. Out of three meetings between two, Mumbai have won two, and one match ended in a draw.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Mumbai
Amrinder Singh (C), Amey Ranawade, Mourtada Fall, Hernan Santana, Mandar Rao Dessai, Rowlin Borges, Raynier Fernandes, Cy Goodard, Hugo Boumous, Bipin Singh, Bartholomew Ogbeche
Current form: W W W W D
Previous match: 1-0 victory against Mohun B.
Hyderabad
Laxmikant Kattimani (GK), Chinglensana Singh, Odei Onaindia, Akash Mishra, Asish Rai, Lluis Sastre, Joao Victor, Mohammed Yasir, Halicharan Narzary, Joel Chianese, Aridane Santana
Current form: W W L L L
Previous match: 4-2 victory against Northeast
Key Players
Mumbai
Adam le Fondre
6 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Bartholomew Ogbeche
4 goals & 5 assists in Indian Football League 2020-21
Hyderabad
Liston Colaco
2 goals & 2 assists in Indian Football League 2020-21
Aridane Santana
6 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
