Chennai, Nov 11 Former champions Chennaiyin FC will be keen to carry forward their winning form when they host Mumbai City at home in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday for an Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 clash.
The Anirudh Thapa-led home side will look to carry forward the confidence from their previous fixture, coming into the match with an away win against East Bengal FC. On the other hand, Mumbai City have travelled to Chennai after sharing points with ATK Mohun Bagan.
Chennaiyin head coach Thomas Brdaric said his side is wary of the threat Mumbai pose and urged his players to put pressure on the visitors in order to take advantage.
"Mumbai is a big club. They have good strengths and qualities. We want to give them stress so that they will make mistakes and not make good decisions. And we've to take that to our advantage. We don't have to give them space. We have analysed them and will try to give our best," the German coach said while addressing the media during the pre-match press conference on Friday.
The Marina Machans will miss the services of the hero from their last win, Vafa Hakhamaneshi, who will sit out after being sent off against East Bengal. The Iranian star headed home a perfectly-placed corner kick by Aakash Sangwan for the match's lone goal. The 27-year-old Haryana-born Sangwan, who also attended the press conference on Friday, said it was really a good moment for him to produce the assist.
The coach further shed light on the unavailability of Kwame Karikari, who has been ruled out of the upcoming fixture due to an injury. "Nasser (Abdenasser El Khayati) is an option for tomorrow. Aakash will replace Narayan (Das), and we are preparing Julius Duker to play in the position (of Hakhamaneshi)," he added.
Both teams share a close head-to-head record in 16 matches played between them in the league. While Chennaiyin have won six, Mumbai City are slightly ahead with seven victories. When the two sides last met at the Marina Arena in 2019, the game ended in a draw.
In the ongoing season, Chennaiyin have managed two wins and one draw from four games, while Mumbai City, on the other hand, are unbeaten with two wins and three draws from five games.
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