Delhi Dynamos Football Club, the only Hero Indian Super League club representing the North of India, are set to face Mumbai City FC on 18th October in their second home match of the Hero Indian Super League 2016 campaign at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The Lions will take the field on Tuesday after earning a draw against table-toppers North East United FC on Saturday in a highly entertaining, end-to-end game.
Mumbai City FC sit second on the rankings table with 7 points. They have won two, drawing and losing one of their four games so far. The Alexander Guimaraes-side lost to Kerala Blasters FC 1-0 in their last game and would be hoping to come out all guns blazing.
In the four matches against Mumbai City FC, Delhi Dynamos FC have lost two matches in the first two editions, winning and drawing the other two. Gianluca Zambrotta, Head Coach of Delhi Dynamos FC would be expecting to add some respectability to that stat in the upcoming game, and would look to keep up the good work that his squad has shown in the opening matches.
Richard Gadze and Memo made a return to the starting XI in the last match for the Dynamos, with marquee player Florent Malouda starting at the bench for the second time in three games. The Frenchman had started every game for the Lions last term but the coach said there’s nothing serious and the decision was a tactical one. Zambrotta said, “Last year is last year. This year is very different. The decision with Malouda was a tactical one. Malouda is an important player for us, it was a tactical decision. There is no injury.”
Delhi Dynamos FC have made a convincing start to the season, picking up a dominant victory over defending champions Chennaiyin FC 3-1 and have played two draws against Kerala Blasters FC and North East United FC, who sit atop the table with 10 points from 5 matches. Delhi Dynamos sit at the third position comfortably, having notched 5 points in their three games.
The defence for the Lions looks solid, having conceded only two goals in their three games. The midfield is clicking well with Marcos Tebar providing brilliant link-up options sitting deep and Milan Singh running hard at opposition to thwart opposition attacks. In the attack, Marcelinho and Kean Lewis are probably the best wing-pair in this Hero Indian Super League and they have created innumerable chances for their strikers Richard Gadze and Badara Badji.
In terms of support, the Delhi Dynamos received their best-ever numbers on Saturday night and would be expecting their fans to come out in higher numbers on Tuesday. The match is expected to be a cracker, with Delhi Dynamos, yet again, expected to control proceedings with a possession-based game-play to stifle the opposition out of the match.
