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The two best teams of the ongoing ISL season will lock horns on Saturday to decide which club lifts the ISL trophy for the first time.
Both the Islanders and the Mariners finished in the top two positions in the table with 40 points each, separated only by the head-to-head record and Mumbai City’s superior goal difference.
City enjoyed their best-ever season in the ISL, and most of the credit goes to the new manager Sergio Lobera who brought in some of his trusted players from his previous club Goa.
Former Goa players Hugo Boumous, Mourtada Fall, Ahmed Jahouh, and Mandar Rao Dessai, along with key players Amrinder Singh, Adam le Fondre, Bartholomew Ogbeche, Rowlin Borges, Hernan Santana, and Bipin Singh played a big part in helping the Islanders achieve a record points total.
Making their debut in the ISL, the Mariners had a similar core to the squad that lifted the Super League trophy with ATK in the previous season. Antonio Lopez Habas helped his team to finish second only on the head-to-head record against Mumbai. New signings Sandesh Jhingan, Manvir Singh, Lenny Rodrigues, and Subhasish Bose, along with Roy Krishna, Pritam Kotal, Tiri, Carl McHugh, and David Williams, were the key players for Mohun Bagan in the ongoing league season.
Team News
Mumbai City scraped through the semi-final on penalties, and Lobera is expected to field the same starting XI that featured in the second leg of the semi-final against Goa.
The ATK Mohun Bagan manager reverted to his preferred partnership of Sandesh Jhingan and Tiri in the middle of the defense in the second leg of the semi-final. The Mariners came out on top against the Highlanders, and Habas is expected to field the same XI players that started the second leg of the semi-final against NorthEast United with Edu Garcia ruled out for the big finale.
Key Players
On Saturday, Rowlin Borges could be a crucial figure for the Islanders amongst all the overseas talent on the pitch. The midfield enforcer helped Mumbai City reach the final with a superbly taken penalty, but his strengths as a midfield enforcer would be crucial to Lobera’s plans.
Mourtada Fall has scored some crucial goals for Mumbai City in the current ISL season, but his abilities as a defender would be pivotal in the big finale.
Tiri has been one of the key players in defence for the Mariners, allowing the ISL debutants to concede only 15 goals in 20 league matches, the least no. of goals conceded by a team this season.
David Williams found the back of the net in both legs of the crucial semi-final, and the Australian forward could prove crucial coming up against the likes of Amey Ranawade, Fall, Hernan Santana, and Vignesh D in the Islanders defense.
Prediction
Mumbai City won the ISL League Winners’ shield finishing top of the table for the first time in the club’s history. City Football Group’s pre-season spending has converted the Islanders into a winning machine, and Lobera would love to lift the ISL trophy after missing out on the coveted title numerous times with Goa in the last few years.
ATK Mohun Bagan lost both encounters to the Islanders in the league season, and the Habas-led squad will be eager to take their revenge on the biggest stage.
