I-LEAGUE Media Team

KOLKATA: McDowell’s Mohun Bagan will be hosting defending champions Bengaluru FC in a Round 7 Hero I-League match on Friday evening at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

The Mariners played out a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals East Bengal a couple of days ago and are one of the only two sides in the league not to have faced a defeat yet. The Kolkata giants now have eight points from their four matches and consecutive wins in the next two matches can take them to the top of the table.

Sanjoy Sen, the coach of the team revealed that he will make a couple of changes in the first XI against the Blues.

“Denson has played a number of consecutive games and he will be rested tomorrow since we have two away matches coming up next. I have talked to him about this,” the coach told after the pre-match practice session.

In Denson’s absence, Sehnaj Singh is expected to start while Dhanachandra Singh will be taking part in action despite having a head injury from the last match.

The two teams were involved in a stalemate in the Federation Cup a few months ago and Sen claimed that his team could have scored at least three goals in that fixture.

“We should have scored at least three goals on that day. They are good in dead-ball situations and I have to told the boys to stay alert,” he further added.

Talking about the away side, Bengaluru FC have won the last three league matches after bagging a solitary point from their first three encounters. Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Thoi Singh have scored 3 goals each in the camapaign and the South Indian side will hope that Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the side will be back to his usual self soon.

The Ashley Westwood-coached side will be missing the services of central defender Curtis Osano, who was given the marching orders in the last match against Shillong Lajong in the last match.

A win in this match will take Bengaluru to the top of the ladder, while Mohun Bagan can reach the second spot with a match in hand. The teams have faced each other thrice in the past, with Bengaluru winning the bragging rights once, while on the other two occasions, they had to share the spoils.

Match KO: Feb 20 @ 7 PM IST (Ten Action)
Hashtag: #MMBvBFC