ISL: Delhi Dynamos vs Mumbai City - What we can expect - Preview and prediction

Delhi Dynamos will host Peter Reid’s misfiring Mumbai City in a feisty encounter on Friday. Harm Van Veldhoven will look to start a winning streak which could potentially give Delhi a slender hope of getting into the top four. On the other hand, Mumbai City, who have been falling in their previous four games, will finally look to break their duck.

Venue and Kickoff

Delhi’s Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium will host this match and the falling temperatures in the city are ideal for end-to-end encounters, just like the previous games here. It has not been the luckiest of venues for the home side, but they will look to change that.

Kickoff: 28 November – 7 PM IST

Probable Line-ups

Delhi started without Wim Raymaekers in defence in the previous game and they were penetrated easily in his absence before NorthEast United’s poor finishing allowed the visitors to take all three points. Souvik Chakravorty is also suspended for this game after his dismissal. Alessandro Del Piero and Mads Junker were rested in that elusive away win, so they are likely to play a part in this game. Dos Santos’ confidence must be relatively high now after his match winning contribution in Guwahati.

Mumbai City have been missing their star striker Nicolas Anelka, who was their last goal scorer, interestingly enough against Delhi Dynamos in the reverse fixture. The former Premier League striker might be fit to play in this fixture along with the recently recovered Freddi Ljungberg. Andre Moritz will be out with a hamstring problem which is a big blow to his team.

Likely Starting XIs

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Key Battles

Anelka vs Anwar Alia

This battle will be crucial as the visitors will look to play through the middle using the Frenchman’s quick feet and flicks. A single little sniff might just be curtains for the home side. There seems to be only one winner in this unless the Indian defender pulls out a rabbit out of the hat.

Junker/Del Piero vs Deepak Mondal

In one of the rare battles where the Indian defender is not likely to fail, one of the more solid Indian centre backs will face a strong front line of Del Piero and Junker. Historically, the East Bengal defender produces better performances against players of the highest calibre.

The man who won the SAFF championship semi-final for India against Maldives in Nepal last year will have to do something similar once again to make a difference this time around, in a decent opportunity for him to further establish himself as one of the main centre backs of the national team for the next few years to come.

Ralte vs Adil Khan

The Mizo winger will go head-to-head against the Goan midfielder/defender on Mumbai’s left hand channel on this occasion. The two have been in the national squads together for the Indian national team. In a game which involves a strong crop of Indian players, this battle will decide the ease at which the attacks will build from the left.

Didika has the talent to take on the very best full backs around, but his form and confidence has been dipping since the recent coaches of the national team stopped picking him. He can produce long rangers at will but it takes a special effort to trouble Van Hout in goal. Adil Khan has had a string of good performances at the right back position and this will be another game to establish himself in the national team for that position.

Prediction

Delhi Dynamos 2-1 Mumbai City