An intriguing contest is on the cards when Mumbai FC prepares to take on debutants Chennai City FC in an eighth round I-League 2016-2017 match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai on Saturday. The match kicks-off at7.05 pm.
Plenty will be at stake, as both, the visiting Mumbai club and hosts Chennai City will be keen to start with a perfect winning combination and play for nothing short than a win to try and collect all the three points, which would help improve their position in the 10-team standings.
The Santosh Kashyap coached Mumbai FC are currently in seventh spot with the six points earned from the opening two wins against DSK Shivajians (1-0 at home) and Churchill Brothers (2-1 away), while the southern outfit are placed at the bottom with just four points from a draw and a solitary win against Aizawl (2-0) at home late last month.
Coach Kashyap was in a relaxed mood ahead of this clash and he sounded positive of getting a good result. “The enthusiasm among the players is still high and for us it’s like starting from scratch. But I am confident that the boys will give their best efforts and try to get a good result,” Kashyap said at the pre-match press briefing.
Kashyap is happy with the preparation for this game. “We have been playing tough away matches and there was not much time between games and we did not get much time to work different strategies. But now I am happy as we got 3-4 days to try and rectify our problems and I am certain that we will put up a better performance tomorrow,” stated the Mumbai coach.
Another factor which is of concern for Kashyap is that this is another away match. “This is another challenge for us and I have told the players not to think too much about the opponents who have the home advantage. They won their last game at home against Aizawl, but we have to play our normal attacking game and try to take something out of the match, if not a win at least a point,” said Kashyap.
The Chennai City team which will be starting under new coach V Soundararajan following the sacking of Robin Charles Raja early this week would look to for a win which provide their coach a bright winning start.