Bengaluru FC vs Mumbai City FC: Strengths, Weakness and Players to watch out

by Chittu Shetty November 19, 2017

Despite meeting for the first times, these two sides share a history that goes past their common players to I league, something football fans of this two city will resonate

Bengaluru FC first game into their ISL venture is against a team which had most of its star player on loan last season. While Amrinder and Arindham, two former BFC goalkeepers are now in Mumbai side, Talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri and young upcoming star winger Udanta Singh remained with BFC.

Mumbai City on the other hand have been ever improving in ISL, after two disappointing seasons, Mumbai roared last season to enter knockouts were they narrowly lost to eventual champion ATK. This time around with most of the core group of last season intact, Mumbai will look to go one step further.

Mumbai City FC

Amridher Singh – Golden glove winner ISL season 3 with Mumbai City FC

Strength: One of the strongest aspects of Mumbai city’s last season run was their mean defence. This year with the ISL golden glove winner Amrinder returning along with star defender Lucian Goian and Gerson Vieira, who came back for their second season Mumbai’s defence looks rock solid again.

Weakness: The departure of star players from strike force will be a worrying factor. With Diego Forlan, Sunil Chhetri, Defederico and Sony Norde, all of whom formed the attacking quadrant, all missing for their respective reasons.

Players to watch:

Amrinder Singh: The former Bengaluru FC custodian is no stranger to his opponent’s coach and players having played with most of them for better part of the year. Amrinder’s performance between the stick will be key to restrict BFC strike force.

Lucian Goian: The lanky defender became a star player last season with his performance quickly rising to be a fan favourite. A lot will be expected this time around too, to stop the Chhetri and co.

Also Read: Debutants Bengaluru ready for Mumbai City FC in epic contest

Bengaluru FC:

Sunil Chhetri – All time Bengaluru FC top goal scorer

Strength: The strike force of Bengaluru boast of stars with Venezuelan striker Miku and India’s talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri being the top names among them. Also the fact that this team has been playing together for while courtesy of the AFC cup means they had longer time to gel together.

Weakness: One of the best aspects BFC during those successful I League season has been their strong Goalkeepers. This time around its in dilemma, Gurpreet Sandhu will be unavailable till January while former no. 1 Amrinder Singh has joined Mumbai. This has left BFC with Lalthuammawia Ralte who is an able keeper but hasn’t found much first team action in the last two years.

Players to watch out:                                                                                                                       

Sunil Chhetri:  Despite the age one can never count India’s highest goal scorer, the star striker has been Bengaluru’s top scorer in all 4 previous seasons since the inception and will look to continue forward that trend.

Miku: The Venezuelan forward has come with the reputation of being a proven goal scorer and based on his performance in the pre-season he could be the one to light up this ISL season with goals.

Also Read: NorthEast United vs Jamshedpur FC Player ratings: How did the players fare

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on Indian Football