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Fresh from their 2-2 AFC Cup draw against Nay Pyi Taw, battle-weary Pune FC will try to find inner strength to get back to the winning ways against Mumbai FC in the second Maharashtra Derby of the season when the two teams meet at the Balewadi Stadium on Saturday evening.
Having lost against Mumbai FC in December when Pune FC hosted them at the same venue, the Red Lizards will be looking to leave the past behind and get on with the tempo they built after beating Mohammedan Sporting Club on February 19 at home. Battling a string of losses and draws since November, Pune FC finally broke the sequence against Mohammedan Sporting and that augurs well for Mike Snoei’s team as it stares at a very busy schedule in the coming weeks.
This Round 19 encounter will be crucial for both the teams as Pune FC will try to consolidate their position at the top of the table, while Mumbai FC will hope to get a further push away from the relegation zone.
After 16 matches, Pune FC is in third position with 28 points. Sporting Clube de Goa too has 28 points, but the Goan outfit have a better head-to-head record to occupy second place. Mumbai FC on the other hand is at No 10 with 18 points having scored just three wins from 16 matches.
Pune FC will yet again depend on its mercurial striker Riga Mustapha and stand-in skipper Douhou Pierre, who starred against Nay Pyi Taw. Gabriel Fernandes and Thongkhosiem Haokip who are having a good run in the recent matches will look forward to continue their good run.
Mumbai FC is coming here after playing out a brave 1-1 draw against Bengaluru FC. Mumbai FC had taken lead through Ebi Sukore to stun the leaders, but for Robin Singh‘s equalizer they would have taken the three points home. One big difference though is that Mumbai FC will miss crowd puller Haroon Amiri, the Afghanistan captain, who joined Dempo SC during the mid-season transfer window.
Nonetheless, Mumbai FC will be hoping their team puts up a strong challenge against Pune FC.
