Backwaters. Beaches. The famous banana chips. Just the things you reminisce about when speaking of what they call God’s Own Country. But when you speak of an away day at Kerala on your fixture list, you know you will be up against a group of 11 motivated footballers, backed by a vociferous band of over forty thousand in a stadium that can be daunting even for the best.
Just 72 hours after an unlucky night at the Arena, Mumbai City FC make the trip down south to face David James’ Kerala Blasters tomorrow, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kalloor, Kochi.
The home side notched up a hard-fought 2-0 win in their opening fixture away at ATK with strikers Matej Poplatnik and Slavisla Stojanovic getting their names on the scoresheet. All departments of James’ side put in a shift, troubling the big names of ATK without any respite for Steve Coppell’s side.
Although the Islanders went down on Tuesday night and were made to rue missed chances, there were plenty of positives to take back for head coach Jorge Costa in his first competitive game in charge at the club. With the international break in sight, Mumbai City FC will not settle for anything less than 3 points going into the two-week-long hiatus.
Where to watch it:
The game will kick off at 7.30pm IST and will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network, Hotstar and Jio TV for all viewers in India. For our global fans, you can follow the live action on our official Twitter account - @MumbaiCityFC.
Team News:
Jorge Costa, in the pre-match press conference, confirmed that Anwar Ali and Davinder Singh will miss tomorrow’s clash in Kochi.
For the home side, defender Anas Edathodika continues to serve his suspension of which two games remain. Both CK Vineeth and Courage Pekuson, who started from the bench in their league opener against ATK, are touted to return to the starting XI.
Who said what:
Jorge Costa: “I don't think we need to make a lot of changes to our game plan. The focus is on getting the job done tomorrow.”
Amrinder Singh: “It was disappointing and not the result we wanted against Jamshedpur FC, but we’ve taken a few positives, learnt a few things and the focus is now on Kerala Blasters.”
Md Rafique: “Tomorrow is a new day. A new game. Another chance for us to give our 100%. And hopefully, we can go back home with all three points.”
League Watch
Results:
3 Oct: Delhi Dynamos 1-1 FC Pune City (Gharami 44’ Diego Carlos 84’)
Fixtures coming up:
4 Oct: ATK vs NorthEast United FC (VYBK, Kolkata 7.30pm)
6 Oct: Chennaiyin FC vs FC Goa (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, 7.30pm)
7 Oct: Bengaluru FC vs Jamshedpur FC (Sree Kanteerava Stadium, 7.30pm)
