PREVIEW

Mohun Bagan Super Giant will travel to Guwahati to face NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium at the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 on Friday, December 15.

Dealing with a host of injury concerns, the Mariners drew 2-2 against Odisha FC at home in their last ISL fixture. They fielded a new-look side against Maziya S&RC and lost 1-0, the visitors will be keen to get a victory and recover their winning momentum after their five-match victorious streak was broken by the Juggernauts.

There were two major objectives for the Juan Ferrando-coached side heading into this season, which was getting to the top of the league table in the ISL and performing well in the AFC Cup. Both these campaigns have been like chalk and cheese for them thus far.

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On the domestic front, they started off with five wins in a row, the best record after these numbers of games for any team in ISL history. At the AFC level, they could not finish within the top two in a group comprising Odisha FC, which brought curtains down to that tournament. However, the latter can help them consolidate all of their resources at the league level, especially when they are riddled with the unavailability of multiple players.

NorthEast United FC has drawn and been defeated twice each in its last four encounters. It is two points behind the sixth-placed Chennaiyin FC, which also have played a match more than the Highlanders. Stopping its season from derailing should be of utmost priority for Juan Pedro Benali at the moment, given that the competition is heating up in the middle of the table.

Playing against a power-packed Mohun Bagan Super Giant unit is never easy, but they need to overcome tougher challenges to come out triumphant amidst intense competitiveness, don’t they?