Welcome to the last game week of the ISL regular season. It’s been one hell of a journey and I only joined in January! There is an extended bill for this week so there is a game on Tuesday night. The game sees Delhi Dynamos play host to playoff chasers Mumbai City. Last week, Delhi confirmed that they wouldn’t finish bottom so they aren’t playing for anything personal but they can ruin Mumbai’s playoff dreams by getting a point or three points. Mumbai have to win to keep their playoff dreams alive. Let’s dive straight into the action, just like Marcelinho’s stamp at the weekend… Sorry that was uncalled for (but so was the stamp).
The Stats…
The hosts, Delhi, are going into the game in 8th position, eight points behind their opponents and two points above 9th place ATK. They have a half decent goalscoring record in the league this season, managing twenty goals. They have the worst defensive record in the league, conceding a staggering thirty-four goals this season. They head into the game in decent form drawing two, winning two and losing one of their previous five. With how their form is going it seems that they are due a draw.
The visitors, Mumbai, go into the game sitting in 7th position, three points behind 4th place Jamshedpur, so a win against Delhi would keep their playoff push alive and take them into that prized 4th position. They have a good goalscoring record, managing twenty-four goals this season. Their defensive record isn’t the greatest after conceding twenty-three goals this season. They are in good form coming into the game, after winning three and losing two of their previous five games. They desperately need a win today to keep the pressure on the teams above.
Previous Encounter…
The last time these two met was back in December 2017 and it was an eventful one, to say the least. The game ended 4-0 to Mumbai. The game also saw Emana smash the woodwork with a penalty and a fight break out just before halftime. This resulted in Sehnaj Singh and Matias Mirabeje receiving their marching orders and the game carried on with both teams down to ten men.
Delhi will be hoping for a much better performance this time around and Mumbai will be wanting a similar performance, just without the red card and the missed penalty, of course.
The Game Itself…
People are probably writing Delhi off already as they have nothing to play for, but they did say the same for the ATK game and look what happened. Mumbai will obviously want to win this match too and I feel we could be in for an entertaining affair.
Mumbai will probably be looking to dominate the game a little more and try to really get at Delhi’s defence, as it is the worst in the league. However, Delhi have become a brilliant attacking team in recent weeks and could easily cause an upset.
Key Player…
Now, I have professed my growing love before for Delhi and this segment may seem a little biased, but it has to be done. Mumbai have some class players and I can’t ignore them at all. Emana has been fantastic over the course of the season and could be a threat. Mumbai’s star man Everton Santos will always be a threat to any team in the league but Delhi have someone who is currently on fire.
Uche’s on fire, your defence is terrified. Right, that sounded much better in my head but you get the hint. My Key Player for the game is Kalu Uche, he has simply been the best striker in the league since the turn of the year, he just can’t stop scoring. He has managed to get to 3rd in the top goalscorers charts and currently has eight goals in his last six games, which is out of this world. Be careful Mumbai, Uche is here to ruin your dreams.
Finally…
With all this being said, I will simply leave you with this. I believe Delhi could cause an upset but I will go with a Mumbai win and the scoreline to be 2-1. I think Mumbai have more to play for, so they will be more up for it, but I’m not 1st in the prediction league so don’t take my word at all.
