Sporting hope to drive home advantage, Mumbai upbeat

Panaji: Scoring six goals from as many games and four from six, does not augur well for Sporting Clube de Goa and Mumbai Football Club. And if one is to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the two, again, there is nothing to choose from. However, the only area that gives hosts Sporting the edge when they take on Mumbai in a 7th round I-League clash at the Nehru stadium, Fatorda, on the Sabbath day, is in attack where Nigerian striker Odafa Okolie has shown why he continues to be among the most destructive forward in the Indian League. Mumbai have been most resilient in defence. In fact, the best of the nine clubs vying for top honours in the I-League. That they held Mohun Bagan and humbled Bengaluru FC , the defending and former champions respectively, and conceded just two goals, makes them a difficult opposition. And knowing Khalid Jamil, the young astute Mumbai coach, he is not going to spend a sleepless night on how to contain Odafa but how to break down the Sporting defence which too has proved to be competitive and one growing in confidence with each match.Sporting, has everything to lose if they don’t grab the home advantage at their disposal and lots to gain if they snatch three points. Much will depend on how well coach Mateus Costa manage his resources. He will need to cast a wider net if he is to break down the Mumbai defence. Also, the midfield will need to clamp down while the defence will do well to stay focused, especially the central defence which is strengthened with the return of Ravanan.Whether their new addition, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, gets to start in this crucial home match will only be known on the morrow. But his presence will certainly add more teeth to the Sporting defence as he is versatile in adding width in attacking as he proved in the ISL for Chennaiyin FC. “I am very impressed with Mumbai FC. They have a very good team and play an attractive brand of football. For us the pressure is more at home as we can’t afford to let the fans down. But we are determined to win and the boys are eager to do well,” said coach Mateus.Mumbai coach Khalid too decided to give Mateus a pat on the back while praising Sporting. And though they have not scored in the last two matches, Khalid said this match was different. “Playing at the Nehru stadium is tough. We will have to fight for every ball,” said Khalid.Mumbai will be without Matsugae in midfield, but will be strengthened in defence with the return Ashutosh Mehta, the enterprising and industrious right wingback.Mateus will have to ensure that he spreadeagles the Mumbai defence throughout the 90 minutes and explore the possibility of finishing from a distance, if Sporting is to be successful. The suspense over the fitness of the Trinidad and Tobago midfield general Densil Theobald will leave Mateus a little flustered but he has enough talent at his disposal to take the fight to the Mumbai camp. Fans can expect a cracker of a clash.