Kolkata, Dec 26 (IANS): Mohun Bagan Super Giant will be gearing up for a crucial encounter at home as they take on the in-form Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The Mariners find themselves in a precarious position after nine games, having suffered consecutive defeats against their nearest competitors in the last couple of matches.
The streak began with a gruelling 2-1 defeat at the home of Mumbai City FC, before FC Goa had a strong outing against them, wrapping up a 4-1 victory in their own backyard. Juan Ferrando will need to go back to the drawing board to do a lot of searching as a spate of injuries and the absence of key players give him a truncated squad to work with.
The club made a remarkable investment to strengthen the squad with the acquisition of multiple top-tier international and domestic players to further their ambitions at both the country as well as the continental level.
The latter came crashing down with their group-stage exit from the AFC Cup, but Ferrando has to salvage pride by competing for the topmost honours in all competitions at home. On the other hand, Kerala Blasters FC is a unit that seems eager to bring an end to their wait for the silverware this season.
The Ivan Vukomanovic-coached side has brushed aside concerns over the injury of skipper Adrian Luna with other senior and also inexperienced stars assuming responsibility and delivering the goods consistently against other teams. They swept aside Mumbai City FC by a 2-0 margin in the previous match, but can they replicate those heroics on the road too?
At stake for Mohun Bagan Super Giant is the chance to break this unwanted losing streak and get on top of the team that is placed just a place above them in the points table at the moment.
The Mariners could not have come up against a better opposition to do so though, as their unbeaten record against Kerala Blasters FC is something that Ferrando would want to hold dear to after this game.
Kerala Blasters FC have lost five times and drawn once in their six matches against the Mariners in the ISL. The Kochi-based club are amongst the three teams including Odisha FC and East Bengal FC that are yet to defeat the Mariners in the ISL.
Despite the spate of injuries in this campaign, Mohun Bagan have scored 19 goals so far among the most scored among all teams in the competition.
Kerala Blasters FC are on a roll after their clinical 2-0 win against Mumbai City FC even with the absence of captain Adrian Luna. They showed no signs of rustiness as the forwards stepped up and unleashed their impeccable potential with Dimitrios Diamantakos and Kwame Peprah scoring and setting a goal each, in addition to a brilliant defensive performance. The clean sheets would come as a relief for Vukomanovic, as the team has not conceded a goal in their previous two matches and the last time they went on a longer stretch was of three games in December 2014.
Mohun Bagan aren’t the ideal opposition to seal that feat though, as the home team has scored a goal in each of their last 10 matches in the top tier. The depth of Ferrando’s squad allows him to introduce quality substitutes and that has resulted in them scoring 10 goals in the second half of matches this season.