Struggling Mumbai City FC welcomes table-toppers Bengaluru FC in their first home game of the season at Mumbai Football Arena.
MUM vs BEN Match Details
Date: Wednesday, 2 October 2024
Time: 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai
MUM vs BEN Match Preview
ISL Cup winners Mumbai City FC did not dream of making a winless start to the new season after a promising end to the last one. Petr Kratky’s side fought from two goals down to draw with Shield holders Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the league opener at Salt Lake but their luck ran out in the second straight away game. New signing Nikos Karelis scored his first goal for the Islanders to give them the lead at Furnace. Home side Jamshedpur FC changed the tide around swiftly, going 3-1 up around 50 minutes rendering Van Nieff’s extraordinary effort to half the deficit meaningless. Mumbai City are now forced to search for their first win in their first home game of the campaign albeit coming against the high-flying leaders Bengaluru FC. Losing some top contributors of their trophy-winning seasons to the Blues this summer, Mumbai City will be desperate to prove them wrong about their move in this clash but their squad needs a major morale boost sitting 11th on the table playing a game less. A victory will put them back into the top-four while anything less than that will keep their place unchanged.
Going through a major shakeup in the squad in the transfer window by adding several ISL-proven stars, Bengaluru FC made a wishful start to the season winning three games in a row. Punjab FC is the only other side to maintain a perfect record in the first three matches of the ISL this season as the Blues followed their league season-opening 1-0 win against East Bengal with back-to-back 3-0 victories over Hyderabad FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giant. The result against the Shield holders in poor form, stuck out as the statement win and the revenge for their 4-0 defeat at Kanteerava against the Mariners last time. Edgar Mendez and Suresh Wangjam scored in the first half before Sunil Chhetri hit the milestone of being the all-time top goal-scorer in ISL with his spot-kick sealer early after the break. However, all the wins for Gerard Zaragoza’s men came at home so they also need to show their same expertise in away matches to prove their strength. Despite a poor start, Mumbai City FC will be a challenge to face but Bengaluru FC are confident of maintaining their sensational start to the season, seeking a first league win away from home since beating the Islanders 1-0 in the playoffs semi-final in March 2023.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MUM: LLLDL
BEN: WWDLD
Recent Form (ISL)
MUM: WWWDL
BEN: WDWWW
Recent Form (ISL 2024/25)
MUM: DL
BEN: WWW
MUM vs BEN Team News
Mumbai City could be without Akash Mishra once again as he battles an injury with Jeremy Manzorro also a doubt. Visitors Bengaluru FC have a fully fit squad with Rahul Bheke, Alberto Noguera and Jorge Diaz facing their former club after leaving the Islanders this summer.
MUM vs BEN Predicted Lineups
Mumbai City
Phurba Lachenpa; Valpuia, Mehtab Singh, Tiri, Sahil Panwar; Thaer Krouma, Van Nieff; Lallianzuala Chhangte, Brandon Fernandes, Vikram Pratap; Nikos Karelis
Bengaluru FC
Gurpreet Singh; Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Roshan Singh; Vinit Venkatesh, Alberto Noguera, Pedro Capo, Suresh Wangjam; Sunil Chhetri, Edgar Mendez
MUM vs BEN Head-to-head (Overall)
Played - 17
MUM won - 9
Drawn - 1
BEN won - 7
MUM vs BEN Head-to-head (In Mumbai)
Played - 6
MUM won - 4
Drawn - 0
BEN won - 2
MUM vs BEN Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Sunil Chhetri
Vice-captain Picks: Edgar Mendez, Nikos Karelis, Alberto Noguera
Our top pick for the MUM vs BEN Dream11 Team is Sunil Chhetri with three goals in the last three matches. The other options are Edgar Mendez (1 goal, 2 assists) and Nikos Karelis (1 goal, 1 assist).
MUM vs BEN Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Gurpreet (Cr - 8)
DEF: Poojary (Cr - 8), Tiri (Cr - 8.5), Bheke (Cr - 8.5)
MID: Chhangte (Cr - 9), Noguera (Cr - 8.5), Krouma (Cr - 8.5), Suresh (Cr - 8)
FW: Mendez (Cr - 7.5), Karelis (Cr - 8.5), Chhetri (Cr - 9)
Vice-captain: Edgar Mendez
Captain: Sunil Chhetri
Mumbai City FC vs Bengaluru FC Match Prediction
Bengaluru FC should maintain their winning start to the ISL 2024-25 season but their clean sheet record could be lost with Mumbai City FC’s not failing to score in the league since December 2023. We predict a 2-1 win for the Blues.
