Bengaluru FC suffered a shock 0-2 defeat against Delhi Dynamos in their previous Indian Super League (ISL) match and it remains to be seen whether they can come back strong on Thursday against Mumbai City FC in another away match.
The Bangalore side made their debut in the ISL last year playing against Mumbai at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. Edu Garcia and Sunil Chhetri remained the goalscorers in that 2-0 win.
Mumbai City FC are out of the top four in the ISL points table at the moment and they are looking for a win to better there chances of making it to the knockout stages. There are eight more league games to play for.
Bengaluru FC, second in the table with 18 points from ten games, also need nothing but a win to prevent any late slip up.
"We have to tread with caution but we will not be compromising on our philosophy in the bargain," BFC coach Roca said in the pre-match presser. "There's a balance we need to find and I'm hoping that Thursday's game is one in which we display that attribute."
Mumbai City FC Alexandre Guimaraes seems to have taken a lot of notes from their inaugural game in the ISL 2017-18 season against Bengaluru FC.
"In the first game, we had some extra few situations that did not allow us to make a good game," said Guimaraes.
"And they (Bengaluru FC) deserved that win for sure. But from that game, I think we have been building our style of play, which has us in this package of eight teams who all have a chance (to make it to the semifinals).
"From that game, we have developed a lot and we have been showing that. Sometimes results don't match the performance. This is what happened in the last game. But from the first game in Bengaluru till now, we have developed very much."
Mumbai City FC vs Bengaluru FC
Match schedule
Date: January 18
Time: 8 pm IST
Venue: Mumbai Football Arena
TV guide
India - Star Sports 2/HD, Star Sports Hindi 1/HD, Star Sports 3, Star Gold, Star UTSAV, Jalsha Movies, Suvarna Plus.
Live streaming
India - Hotstar
Live score
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