Bambolim (Goa), Dec 5 (IANS) Mumbai City, who finally got their season underway with a 3-0 drubbing of East Bengal in their previous match, will be looking to continue the momentum when they face Odisha FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the GMC Stadium on Sunday.
Mumbai’s much touted attacking strength was on show against East Bengal with the likes of Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges and Adam le Fondre all making a mark.
Head coach Sergio Lobera, however, maintained that it remains early days in the season and there are no favourites.
“For me, there are no favourites. This season is a very different season with special circumstances. My focus is on my team and I need to improve them. We have won a couple of games but there are a lot of things we need to improve,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
Odisha, on the other hand, are yet to record a win this season, their solitary point coming from a 2-2 draw against Jamshedpur FC. Their previous match was a 1-0 defeat to ATK Mohun Bagan.
Stuart Baxter’s side has managed to score just twice in three games and has been leaking at the back, with the defence making multiple errors. Their inability to score stands out especially considering only Chennaiyin FC have had more shots on goal than them (11). Baxter though believes that the goals will come with time.
“The final third is about flank-play, it’s about finishing, it’s about combination play. All these things we’ve been working very very hard on. But our possession has not been of the best quality. We’ve not got the numbers up there at times, we’ve not got the bodies into the boxes. We’ve been working on that and I think the possession has been better. I think we will start to also translate that into strikes on goal,” Baxter said.
–IANS
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