Picture courtesy: Bharat FC

An unbeaten Mohun Bagan AC side will lock horns with struggling newbies Bharat FC in an I-League match to be played at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday evening.

Mohun Bagan, who are currently leading the charts with 25 points from 11 matches, have not yet tasted a single defeat in this campaign and will be eager to extend their lead further. The team’s performance saw a dip in the last match against Shillong Lajong, when their midfield had a tough time dealing with the travellers.

However, with the next match poised to be held at Salt Lake instead of the Barasat Stadium, the Mariners have a feeling that it will be easy for them to play their brand of football on a bigger pitch.

“Our target is to win three points from the fixture without bowing down to the pressure. The match will be played at Salt Lake and we will hopefully get rid of the troubles that were happening at Barasat,” Debjit Majumder, the in-form goalkeeper of the side was quoted as saying.

Mohun Bagan will miss the services of veteran midfielder Lalkamal Bhowmick who is still hospitalized after getting injured in the last tie. Bikramjit Singh will come back from suspension and is likely to pair up with Sehnaj Singh in the midfield.

Pritam Kotal, one of the best right-backs of the country, is also likely to return to the starting XI at the expense of Anwar Ali, which would mean that Kingshuk Debnath will pair up with Bello Rasaq in central defense.

“We have a long journey ahead of us. Just like claiming we are almost the champions, it is also bad to criticize the boys for their performance in a single match. Bharat have a number of players like Gouramangi, Lester, Ravanan and Nabi and they will try to show their best against Mohun Bagan,” Sanjoy Sen, the coach of the Green and Maroons told on Saturday.

Talking about their opponents, the new team of the league have won only two of their eleven fixtures and are fresh from a 3-0 drubbing in the hands of another Kolkata giants East Bengal. Stuart Watkiss has a tough job of motivating the squad before their face-off with the leaders and will probably bring in some changes in the starting XI.

Kris Bright has looked the biggest threat for opponent defenses while players like Lester Fernandez and Romuald Boco have also proved handy in attack.The three-man defense has leaked goals of late, but the presence of Gouramangi and Omar Jarun means that they certainly have the potential.

This is the first ever encounter between the two sides and the result will be important for teams at both ends of the table.

(Report & Picture courtesy I-League Media)