ISL 2022-23: Bengaluru FC look for desperate measures to bounce back as they face high-flying Mumbai City FC
By Team Newsable | First Published Nov 17, 2022, 8:00 AM ISTMumbai City FC are unbeaten in the ISL 2022-23 so far, while Bengaluru FC are sitting in ninth place, looking to avoid a fourth straight defeat this season.
Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC square off in the opening match of Indian Super League (ISL) 2022–23 Matchweek 7 on Thursday at the Mumbai Football Arena. The Blues are currently in ninth place and trying to avoid suffering their fourth straight loss of the year, while the Islanders remain unbeaten in the league so far.
Mumbai City FC has already scored 16 goals in six games, which is the most in the ISL this season. This comes after they scored a lot in their come-from-behind victory over Chennaiyin FC in their most recent game.
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The Islanders have kept the ball better than any other team in the league this season, averaging 2.7 goals per game, with 2131 completed passes. Des Buckingham, the head coach of MCFC, was happy with his team's tenacity in the most recent game, but he believes there is still space for growth going forward.
"We want to achieve things this year and are aware that we cannot give away goals the way we did in the last game. Chennaiyin started better than we did in the last game. We did not start poorly; they were just better. But as soon as we scored, we were back in it, and I was happy with that performance," said Buckingham.
"We still have a lot of work to do, and if we want to be successful this year, then we need to make sure we come away with more results in the next couple of games," he added.
Bengaluru FC is currently having trouble scoring goals; the Blues have only scored two goals in five games and have not scored in three straight ISL games for the first time in their history. They last suffered a four-game losing streak during the ISL 2020–21 season.
The Blues average just 0.4 goals per game, ranking tenth in the table of goals scored per match. Roy Krishna and captain Sunil Chhetri will be responsible for playing with precision in the final third.
"Since the game on Friday, we have worked hard in training, trying to do some different things. Speaking of the Mumbai game, it's all about what we have to do to win football matches again," said Grayson.
"We intend to tweak a few aspects that take us from being very close to winning games to actually winning games. The end product has been missing so far, so we need to be more clinical," he added.
Only one of the 10 ISL games played between these two teams have resulted in a tie. While the Blues have triumphed four times, the Islanders have won five games. Bengaluru FC defeated Mumbai City FC 2-1 to win the Durand Cup in their most recent encounter.
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