After pulling off a hard-fought draw last week, Odisha battle out with the reigning champions Mohun B in the Thursday fixture of Indian Football League 2020-21.
Match Timings: Dec 03, 7:30 PM
Team Preview
Mohun B. is back into the action after winning the Kolkata derby clash against East Bengal. Both sides created a good number of chances. Roy Krishna started the scoring. Jayesh drove forward from midfield, and then Javi provided the assistance to Roy. In the 85th minute, Manvir Singh doubled the lead and sealed the game. Pilkington was the only hope for Bengal, but the absence of Matti Steinmann in the second half made the task bit tougher for him.
In its opening fixture, Mohun B. edged past Kerala 1-0, courtesy of Roy Krishna’s goal in the 67th minute. Antonio Habashas won the title of this league twice with Kolkata. In the last edition, his side finished second in the table and later went on to win the title by defeating Chennai in the final.
Antonio Habas’s side is the strongest unit of this season. Roy Krishna leads the attack with David Williams and Edu Garcia upfront. On the bench, they have former FC Goa's striker Manvir Singh who scored the goal in the last outing. Academy graduate Mhammed Fardin Ali Molla can also provide assistance from the bench.
Meanwhile, Odisha delivered the most adequate comeback in match week two against Coyelo’s Jamshedpur. After seeing two goals down in the first half, Baxter’s side attacked the 10-men Jamshedpur side. Diego Mauricio scored the first goal in the 77th minute to draw first blood for Odisha, and then, he netted the equaliser in injury-time. His equaliser was the finest goal of this season so far as he produced a strike from an impossible angle by slamming the ball at the back of the net. In the opening fixture, Odisha lost against Hyderabad as the former striker Santana scored the winner through penalty.
In 2019-20, the same side won 7 matches out of 18 and drawn four. Baxter requires some scoring from former Newcastle player Steven Taylor and forward Marcelinho. Onwu also has responsibility, who scored seven goals in 2019-20 after a mid-season transfer.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Mohun B.
Lineup: Arindam Bhattacharya, Tiri, Jhingan, Kotal, Subhasish Bose, Edu Garcia, M. Soosairaj, J. Rane, Javi Hernandez, David Williams, Krishna
Current Form – W W
Previous outing – 2-0 victory over East Bengal
Odisha
Lineup: Arshdeep Singh; Jacob Tratt, Steven Taylor, Shubham Sarangi, George D'Souza, Marcelinho, Samuel Lalmuanpuia, Cole Alexander, Nandha Kumar, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Manuel Onwu
Current Form – D L
Previous outing – 2-2 draw with Jamshedpur
Key Players
Mohun B
Roy Krishna
15 goals & 6 assists in Season 2019-20 
1 goal in Indian Football League 2020-21
David Williams
7 goals & 5 assists in Season 2019-20
Odisha
Manuel Onwu
7 goals and 2 assists in Indian Football League 2019-20
Marcelinho
7 goals in Indian Football League 2019-20
2 goals in pre-season 2020
