By Debabrata Majumder
KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan will be aiming for all three points when they face Bhawanipore Club in the ongoing Calcutta Premier Division – A at the Barasat Stadiun on Thursday.
Both teams come into this game on the back of contrasting results. While Mohun Bagan won all three of their previous games Bhawanipore have suffered consecutive defeats.
“We have got off to a good start but can’t take anything for granted. All teams are capable of getting results, so we will need to stay focused on the task at hand,” said Mohun Bagan coach Sankarlal Chakraborty.
Facing Bhawanipore, The Mariners are expected to start with a unchanged starting XI from the previous match aganist Southern Samity. Darryl Duffy will be pairing Azaharuddin Mallick upfront. Prabir Das will be marshalling in the midfield beside Saran Singh, Tapan Maity and Robinson Singh. Raju Gaikward will continue to helm the defense alongwith Sanjay Balmuchu while Sarthok Golui and Tanmoy Das will start as fullbacks, with Arnab Das Sharma under the frame. Meanwhile, latest signing Zohib Islam Amiri will start on the bench.
Bhawanipore, on the other hand, have had a utterly disappointing campaign so far, as they have only managed to accumulate a solitary point from three games and it’s quite certain that the Debjit Ghosh-led side, who are already in the relegation zone, will also come hard at Mohun Bagan for full points to allow themselves some breathing space in the table.
Going into the game, Bhawanipore will be heavily depending on the Nigerian striker pair of Orok Orok Essien and Abubakar Al-Hassan for goals upfront while the likes of Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Manish Bhargav and Tirthankar Sarkar will be adding to the options in the midfield.
The match at Mohun Bagan Ground kicks off at 5.30 pm on Thursday and it will be televised live on ETV News Bangla.
