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Only three games remain in the league stage of the ISL for the Islanders and with as many as four teams in contention for a single playoff spot, the fight is well and truly alive!
The Islanders are back in action in a second consecutive home game as three extremely crucial points hang in the balance against one of those four sides. Mumbai City FC welcome Jamshedpur FC tomorrow in a paramount fixture for Jorge Costa’s side. Action kicks off at the Mumbai Football Arena at 7.30pm.
After a dismal performance away in Hyderabad, the Islanders resurrected their fight for the playoffs with a routine 1-0 win over Robert Jarni’s NorthEast United FC last week at the Arena. In a game that was far from pretty, Diego Carlos came up with the goods as he danced through the visitors’ defence and scored with a fantastic left-footed finish from 15 yards out to give the Islanders the full points.
Much like the previous opponents, Jamshedpur FC have had a rather anti-climatic campaign in the 2019-20 ISL. The Red Miners, who had a flying start to their season much to the credit of Sergio Castel’s exploits, have seen a drastic dip in their form after injuries to their talismanic striker and midfielder Piti.
After picking up two wins their in their opening two games of the season, Antonio Iriondo’s side have won only two games in their subsequent 12 fixtures. While tomorrow’s visitors are in with a remote chance to make it to the playoffs, Iriondo and Jamshedpur FC will arrive at the Arena off the back of consecutive defeats to make amends to their struggling form.
Meanwhile, as Jorge Costa rightly put, tomorrow will be one of three finals for his side and every point lost will be costly for the Islanders’ chances of a second playoff appearance in as many seasons.
Pratik Chaudhari will return from suspension for the Islanders but it’s the opposite for Modou Sougou who will miss out on the action, who picked up his fourth yellow card of the season against NorthEast United FC. Jorge Costa has also given the green light to the availability of Sourav Das and Subhasish Bose, after both went off with injuries last week.
January window signing David Grande has recovered from an illness and is in contention for a place in the Jamshedpur FC lineup according to Antonio Iriondo. Piti and Tiri will continue to be missing for the visitors.
Mumbai City FC head coach Jorge Costa said, “We only have two options – to win or to win. We cannot afford to get anything but three points.”
Mumbai City FC defender Pratik Chaudhari said, “Tomorrow’s game is like a final for us, we want to go out there and get the result we all want.”
Mumbai City FC midfielder Sourav Das said, “We cannot relax on our last result. Jamshedpur FC bring a whole new challenge and we have to be at our best to beat them.”
The game will kick off at 7.30pm IST and will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network, Hotstar and Jio TV for all viewers in India.
