JOIN USBFC look for a turnaround
Defending champions Bengaluru FC would look for a turnaround in their fortunes when they take on Mumbai FC in the I-League tie at the Cooperage ground here on Saturday.
Winless in five games now, Bengaluru have often found themselves on the short end of fortune to share points in games they should have comfortably won.
Bengaluru come into this game on the back of three straight draws and the Sunil Chhetri-led side will have to be more clinical with the chances they have been creating in attack if the trend has to be stopped.
Saturday’s match also marks the first of the reverse legs for Bengaluru this season. CK Vineeth scored the first hat-trick in the club’s history when Mumbai came to the Sree Kanteerava stadium in January and Bengaluru will hope the striker, who has not scored since then, finds form in front of goal.
Bengaluru are placed fifth on the points table with 12 points, while Mumbai are eighth with seven points to their name.
Mumbai are struggling with a winless streak of their own, having gone on to lose five straight games after the 3-0 defeat in Bengaluru. The Santosh Kashyap-coached side picked their first points since then after playing out a goalless draw against Mohun Bagan.
But much has changed for Mumbai in terms of their squad since they last played Bengaluru. Four foreign singings in Densill Theobald, Djelaludin Sharityar, Alex Willian and Anderson da Silva have joined Kashyap and showed in glimpses against Bagan what they bring to the side.
In what is surely some respite for Roca, who has missed key players owing to injury and suspensions, central defender Juan Gonzalez has made the trip to Mumbai having served his two-game ban and will add some much needed strength to the Bengaluru defence that has had a few weak moments in the recent past.
John Johnson, however, continues his rehabilitation after fracturing a rib and will miss out on Saturday, giving Sandesh Jhingan another opportunity to stake his claim for a permanent place in the Bengaluru starting XI.