Mumbai FC are keen to bounce back to winning ways as they come up against Sporting Clube de Goa in an I-League Round 21 encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa on Saturday.

The face-off against fourth-placed Sporting Goa (28 points) will be a must-win for tenth-placed Mumbai FC (19 points) as they seek to bring their campaign back on track with the league entering its business end.

Sporting goes into the game having failed to log a single win ever since their Federation Cup final loss to fellow state-rivals Churchill Brothers. Since then, they have drawn against Pune FC before suffering heavy defeats against Mohammedan SC and Dempo SC and Mumbai FC will hope to capitalise on it.

Coach by Spaniard Oscar Bruzon, the Goans have made only one change to their squad during the transfer window. Nigerian medio Martins Ekwueme replaced the injured Spanish defender Arturo Navarro as Sporting hope to push further up in the table.

On the other hand, Mumbai goes into the game after a 0-2 loss to Salgaocar FC in the previous round. The result also broke Mumbai FC’s eight-match unbeaten run in the I-League and they will hope to bounce back.

Since the turn of the year, Mumbai FC’s finishing in front of the goal has let them down as they have scored only five goals in nine previous matches. Despite scoring, failure to get the second goal has cost them with the opponents pulling level after Mumbai FC taking the lead.

Mumbai FC Coach Khalid Jamil expects the script to change and has demanded more out of his strikers – Yusif Yakubu, Alfred Jaryan and Mohammad Rafi.

Over the years, both sides have met ten times in all competitions and share three wins each. Thus, a win on the morrow will not only help Mumbai FC move up in the table but give them an upper hand in the head-to-head record.