Prayag United along with Pune FC are two clubs who have turned a lot of heads with their performances this season in the I-League. Prayag who were enjoying a brilliant run of form had a sudden dip in their performance levels in the last week before the break as they suffered two back to back defeats from the hands of Salgaocar and Pune respectively. Both these were away fixtures but their match against Mumbai is at the Salt lake Stadium and Prayag are the only side who have not lost at home so far this season so the odds are stacked heavily in their favour ahead of the fixture. Their manager Sanjoy Sen must be proud of the fact that along with Salgaocar and Pune, his side has the least number of defeats this season; the worrying factor being that two out of these four came in their last two matches. Josimar will return for Prayag which will add a lot of depth to their strike force which already looks quite potent with Yakubu and Kayne Vincent. Defender Justin Stephen is also expected to return from suspension while Lalkamal, Jayanta and James will have to do most of the running in the midfield and on the flanks in order to feed the balls to their frontline.
Prayag United Probable Starting Lineup: Abhijit Mondal (GK), Chinta, Bello, Arnab, Justin, Denson, James, Jayanta, Lalkamal, Josimar, Yakubu
HAL Bangalore will most likely get relegated but it is still not certain which club will join them in the 2nd division of the I-league next season. Along with Chirag United, Mumbai FC are the other club who are running in contention to get relegated along with HAL. This makes these last few matches a whole lot more important for the Mumbai side. Barring a shocking win against Churchill in round 19, their only other win in the recent past came almost eight matches ago in round twelve of the I-league against Prayag United. The win came in late December but because it came against Prayag, it will definitely instil a lot of confidence in side from Maharashtra. One can only hope that Khalid Jamil’s side would have done a lot of introspection during the international break and would come out all guns blazing in order to open up the gap from Chirag United who have a game in hand. With a full squad available for selection, Khalid Jamil’s men have to put their best step forward during all their remaining fixtures in order to keep floating in the first division of the I-league.
Mumbai FC Probable Starting Lineup: Nidhinlal (GK), Dane, Amiri, Peter Siddiquii, Kima, Kuttimani, Cavin, Noel Wilson, Ebi Sukore, Abhishek, G. Friday
THE SOCCERTUB PREDECTION:
PRAYAG 1-2 MUMBAI FC
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