ATK Mohun Bagan meets East Bengal for the first time at the Saltlake Stadium in ISL to kick off the first Kolkata derby of the 2022/23 Season.
ATKMB thumped Kerala Blasters 5-2 at Kochi before taking some time off from action while East Bengal registered their first three points of the campaign with a 3-1 triumph over NorthEast United.
ATKMB vs EBFC Match Details
Date: Saturday, 29 October 2022
Time: 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Saltlake Stadium, Kolkata
ATKMB vs EBFC Match Preview
All the woes from their opening game loss to Chennaiyin FC where they dominated but took their foot off the pedal at the wrong time got blown away when they themselves became the comeback kings in the second game of the season away from home overturning a 6th-minute opener from Ivan Kaliuzhnyi to smack five past Kerala Blasters, who outsmarted their rivals East Bengal in their opening game. Australian centre-forward Dimitri Petratos finally came to life and scored a splendid hat trick with Joni Kauko and substitute Lenny Rodrigues sharing the other goals. Kaliuzhnyi scored again in between but it didn’t matter much at the end. Coach Juan Ferrando will be happy with the stunning win and the perfect reply to their defeat last time. Though, their defence will remain a concern going into the derby. The back-three system has not prevented Ferrando’s men to concede goals at a higher rate than before with four conceded in the last two. Anyways, the attack will satisfy the manager with finally a definitive number nine inserted in the team finding joy in front of the goal. Petratos’s glowing form comes at the right moment for ATKMB to gear up for one of the highly anticipated clashes of the season. The atmosphere in the stadium won’t be the first to taste as both teams met each other in the Durand Cup prior to the season although the game was far from a spectacle. The stakes will be a lot higher this time with both Kolkata clubs taking the derby as a boon to replace their poor start to the ISL campaign. For ATKMB, a fifth consecutive win in the derby in ISL will put them among the top five places on the table as they look for the playoff places again. For sure, anything other than a victory will not be on the plate for Juan Ferrando’s side on Saturday.
East Bengal will take this derby as the opportunity to finally put their stale record in this meeting to bed. Stephen Constantine’s side finally came up with a win, having managed only one for the entirety of last season, by beating NorthEast United 3-1 in their backyard. Started the campaign with a 3-1 loss to Kerala Blasters then the last-minute heartbreak in the 2-1 defeat at home, the Red and Gold finally found their feet with Cleiton Silva, Charalambos Kyriakou and Jordan O'Doherty clinching the victory. Although it was a game East Bengal were slight favourites to grab the win and turn their season around, Stephen Constantine will be happy with the victory achieved right before the pivotal derby. The question is now whether the former Indian national football team coach can become the first in his role to gather a win or even a point for East Bengal in the Kolkata derby in ISL. Constantine oversaw the derby in the Durand Cup where an unfortunate own goal from his side decided the outcome of the match and extended the losing run to five. East Bengal conceded 12 goals in those derby encounters and managed to ripple the opposition net only twice with one being an own goal scored by ATKMB defender Tiri two seasons ago. Only a victory will satisfy the fans on Saturday and it will help the team climb up the table, currently sitting eighth on the table. Despite leaking goals in each of their matches so far and the opposition in fine-scoring form, Constantine will mark out the leaky defence of ATKMB as a pathway to gain something out of the clash. Also, East Bengal are facing a less robust version of their rivals from the past two seasons. The worry for the Red and Gold will be their squad is brand new again while the players from ATKMB will have more experience in competing derbies in the ISL especially the Indian duo of Manvir Singh and Liston Colaco.
Recent Form
ATKMB: WL
EB: WLL
ATKMB vs EBFC Team News
Having an almost two weeks break since their trip to Kochi, ATK Mohun Bagan have a fully fit squad available. Carl McHugh was unavailable in the last game but has recovered and will be pushing for a start in the game although Deepak Tangri and Lenny Rodrigues, a scorer in the last game, look to be ahead of him in the pecking order. Coach Juan Ferrando will not repeat the mistake of benching Liston Colaco for this pivotal clash as he did in the opening game and lost. A product of the Salgaocar academy in Goa, Colaco claimed two assists in the massive win over Kerala Blasters reinstalled in the starting eleven.
Their rivals East Bengal too are not facing any fresh injury issues from the win over NorthEast United a week ago with Eliandro the only absentee due to an injury having played only 10 minutes this season. Like Ferrando, Stephen Constantine find no reason to tweak his squad that is slowly cooperating with his tactics. The Red and Golds will be looking at Cleiton Silva to do the damage with his two goals in consecutive games and a strike to count with an assist last time he played against ATKMB in ISL in a Bengaluru FC shirt that time.
ATKMB vs EBFC Predicted Lineups
ATKMB: Vishal Kaith (GK); Pritam Kotal, Brendan Hamill, Asish Rai, Ashique Kuruniyan, Deepak Tangri, Joni Kauko, Manvir SIngh, Hugo Boumous, Dimitri Petratos, Liston Colaco,
EB: Kamaljit Singh (GK); Sarthak Golui, Lalchungnunga, Ivan Gonzalez, Jerry Lalrinzuala, V.P. Suhair, Jordan O’Doherty, Charalambos Kyriakou, Naorem Mahesh, Cleiton Silva, Semboi Haokip
ATKMB vs EBFC Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Kamaljit (8)
DEF: Sarthak (8), I Gonzalez (8.5), Kyriakou (9), Asish (8)
MID: O’Doherty (8.5), Boumous (8.5), Kauko (8)
FW: Manvir (9), Petratos (8.5), Cleiton (9)
Vice-captain: Cleiton Silva
Captain: Dimitri Petratos
