Talk about history between two football teams, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal go as far as one can remember. Although the club is now being hailed as ATK Mohun Bagan after its merger with former ISL franchise Atletico de Kolkata, fans continue to watch it as Mohun Bagan and it is the same spirit they will carry into the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday when these giants of Indian football come together.
Although ATK Mohun Bagan have the advantage over East Bengal in their Indian Super League meetings, East Bengal dominate the overal head-to-head record. Both these sides competed in a staggering 382 competitive and friendly matches, where East Bengal have won 132 times and Mohun Bagan emerged victorious 125 times. However, for ISL’s most successful team of all time, these stats will be of little relevance as they look to pile on some misery on their arch-rivals to get their tournament back on track.
Both these sides came up against each other recently in the Durand Cup. Mohun Bagan emerged victorious in a game that saw just one goal, which was an own-goal from the East Bengal defender Sumit Passi. However, this game in front of a packed Salt Lake crowd, where tempers will be flaring and noises will be as loud as possible, might not witness such a scrappy contest.
This game is also the first Kolkata Derby at the Salt Lake stadium since the end of the pandemic, which saw the tickets get sold out faster than one can imagine.
Juan Ferrando was relieved with his club registering their first win of the tournament last week. ATK Mohun Bagan scored five past the Kerala Blasters on Sunday, which Dimitri Petratos contribute four goals in total, three of which he scored to take the match ball, and one assist which he provided to Lenny Rodrigues.
Kerala sparked hopes with the opening goal by Ivan Kalyuzhnyi but were completely overawed by the multiple attacking moves that ATKMB decimated them with later on in the game. Midfielder Joni Kauko scored the other goal for the Mariners, who desperately needed this victory having lost their opening game of the season at home to Chennaiyin FC. Manvir Singh’s goal got cancelled out by two second half goals from the Marine Machans, handing Ferrando his first defeat of the season.
East Bengal, who appointed former Indian coach Stephan Constantine as their head coach for this season, got off to a poor start to the season with two defeats on the trot in ISL 2022-23, but they managed to emerge victorious against Northeast United in what was supposed to be a tricky away trip, but wasn’t to be. Constantine is off the mark with the Red & Gold Brigade.
ATK Mohun Bagan are placed seventh in the points table with three points. They are just above East Bengal, but Constantine’s team have a game played one game more. A win on Saturday will take them to the top six of the league table and they can try to consolidate their position in the top half from there. With the pre-season not meeting the expectations, it is imperative for Ferrando to get a big result here to ensure he has the fans’ backing.
Constantine, who has great experience with Indian football, understands the magnitude of the Kolkata derby perhaps a tad bit better than his opposite number. “There is also the question of bragging rights and pride that goes with the Kolkata Derby. I am aware that we have not won a derby in the last few meetings. So, we are going to try and fix that tomorrow night,” he said ahead of Saturday’s clash.
ATKMB vs EB, Indian Super League 2022/23
Date: 29 October, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
FORM GUIDE:
ATK Mohun Bagan Indian Super League form:
W-L
East Bengal Indian Super League form:
W-L-L
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
ATK Mohun Bagan wins: 4
Draws: 0
East Bengal wins: 0
TEAM NEWS:
ATK Mohun Bagan Team news:
A 3-4-3 formation against Kerala Blasters helped Mohun Bagan complete an authoritative victory against Kerala Blasters and Juan Ferrando will continue with the same line up. They do not have any injury concerns besides a slight knock that Manvir Singh picked up last game, which is not expected to keep him away from action.
Liston Colaco made two assists in a terrific display against the Blasters, who will continue to be the driving force at the left wing. They have great options in the attack including Hugo Boumous and Dimtri Petratos, who are all capable of making a top contribution on their day.
Their defensive line including some experienced campaigners like Brendan Hamill, Pritam Kotal and Ashique Kuruniyan, who have conceded three goals in two games but have been pretty exceptional with their discipline. They are likely to cause a lot of trouble for East Bengal’s attackers, who have not been very clinical in front of the goal this season.
East Bengal Team News:
East Bengal’s major attacking threat Jerry Mawihmingthanga might struggle to find a start and they also have one big player missing in Eliandro. Alex Lima, who came off the bench last game, might not get a start here again as the Brazilian would want to slowly make his way into the XI ahead of a long tournament.
Cleiton Silva and Semboi Haokip will lead the attacking line for Constantine’s side, who also hold a major physical threat. Silva, Charalambos Kyriakou and Jordan O’Doherty got on the score sheet against Northeast United. Naorem Mahesh came close to scoring in the first game and will continue to be a threat.
ATK Mohun Bagan Predicted Lineup:
Vishal Kaith (GK); Pritam Kotal, Brendan Hamill, Ashique Kuruniyan, Asish Rai, Deepak Tangri, Joni Kauko, Liston Colaco, Manvir SIngh, Dimitri Petratos, Hugo Boumous
East Bengal FC Predicted Lineup:
Kamaljit Singh (GK); Sarthak Golui, Lalchungnunga, Ivan Gonzalez, Jerry Lalrinzuala, V.P. Suhair, Jordan O’Doherty, Charalambos Kyriakou, Naorem Mahesh, Cleiton Silva, Semboi Haokip
Predictions:
Both East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan prefer playing the game quite directly and there is very little scope in this game as well for lateral passing. East Bengal might emerge as the more defensively wary team of these two, but is likely that they will not be any merciful going forward on the break.
In the list of successful passes, both these sides find themselves in the bottom half of the table. ATK Mohun Bagan average 290 completed passes per game this season, whilst East Bengal have struggled even more, averaging 199 passes per game. Both teams will be fighting hard to win the aerial duels and the second balls, which is where some crucial chances can be created.
Both the sides are coming into this game after registering their first win of the season, which should be a positive sign for the managers. However, one stat that definitely is very impressive in favor of the Mohun Bagan unit is that they have drawn just nine fouls in both their high-octane games, giving their experienced defensive line a little more validation to boost their confidence.
ATK Mohun Bagan are the stronger side on paper and will dominate a majority of the proceedings. They are likely to emerge victorious by a goal or two.
