Mohun Bagan Super Giant will play East Bengal FC in the Kolkata Derby of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. The Mariners will look to extend their dominant record over their city rivals, having won eight out of the nine encounters between the two teams in ISL history, with the Red & Gold Brigade yet to record a victory against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the competition. Mohun Bagan Super Giant are sitting comfortably at the top of the table, boasting an impressive record of 22 goals scored against East Bengal FC. Their attacking unit, led by Dimitrios Petratos, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Jamie Maclaren, and Jason Cummings has been one of the most relentless in the league, with a goal-scoring average of 2.4 goals per game against their city rivals, their second-highest against any opponent.

Additionally, the Mariners have been solid defensively, with their total goals conceded against East Bengal FC (5) being the least they have given away against any team with whom they have played at least twice. With both teams eyeing important points, Mohun Bagan Super Giant will be looking to maintain their unbeaten streak, while East Bengal FC will be hoping to break their arch-rivals’ stronghold and avoid another loss.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant have recorded a 79.2% passing accuracy against East Bengal FC in the ISL, which is their second-best against any opponent behind the 82.5% they have registered against Punjab FC. East Bengal FC will have to discover a way to break down the cohesiveness in the Mariners’ passing patterns to not let them orchestrate the flow of the proceedings.

The Mariners will be targeting their fourth league double against East Bengal FC in the ISL. Against no other team have they scaled this feat more times in the competition (also NEUFC – 3 league doubles in 2021-22, 2023-24, 2024-25). Mohun Bagan Super Giant have netted in each of their nine ISL encounters against East Bengal FC.

East Bengal FC have struck the third-least goals (16) in the ISL 2024-25. They have thus strengthened their frontline by signing Venezuelan striker Richard Celis until the end of the season. Celis, 28, has represented clubs such as Atletico Venezuela CF, Deportivo JBL, Caracas FC and Academia Puerto Cabello, and can play down the centre as well as through the left flank, arguably making up for the absence of attacking midfielder Madih Talal. Whether Celis plays any part in this match remains to be seen though.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina played down their impressive track record against East Bengal FC in the ISL.

“What we did in the ISL so far doesn’t matter in tomorrow’s game. We need to perform well, defeat them in the 90 minutes tomorrow on the pitch,” he said.

East Bengal FC head coach Oscar Bruzon backed his players to perform well in the Kolkata Derby.

“We have to optimise the resources that are available to us and we have full confidence in the players who will take the field to play in the Kolkata Derby,” he said.

East Bengal beat Nejmeh SC of Lebanon 3-2.© X/@eastbengal_fc

Led by Borja Herrera’s sensational hat-trick, FC Goa secured their first win of their Indian Super League 2024-25 campaign as they edged past hosts East Bengal 3-2 in Kolkata on Friday. The visitors started the game brightly as they made some impactful moves into the final third. The likes of Dejan Drazic, Borja Herrera and Boris Singh made openings early on in the game. Their persistent attacks were soon rewarded when Drazic’s cross from the left was parried away by East Bengal goalkeeper Debjit Majumder.

However, the stray ball fell to Borja in space and the Spaniard slotted it into the net in the 13th minute.

The Gaurs kept troubling the East Bengal FC backline with their darting counter-attacks. In such an instance, Boris Singh won possession from Hijazi Maher on the right flank in a dangerous area. The youngster came up with a perfectly weighted cut-back to find Borja in the box, who slammed it home again in the 20th minute to double the lead for the visitors.

However, the Carles Cuadrat-coached team retaliated well with some offensive moves.

They eventually found an opening when Nim Dorja tripped Madih Talal in the penalty area, awarding the Red and Gold Brigade a spot-kick and an opportunity to come back in the game.

Talal stepped up and calmly slotted it past Laxmikant Kattimani to pull a goal back in the 29th minute.

East Bengal FC started the second period positively with some penetrative attacks. However, the real opening fell to FC Goa, when Drazic and Rowllin Borges combined and opened up the Red and Gold defence. But the latter’s eventual effort was wide off target. The Serbian came up with another effort from outside the box but once again it went wide.

FC Goa regained their two-goal advantage in the 71st minute when Udanta Singh won possession from Hijazi and squared it to Borja in space. The Spanish midfielder cruised his way into the penalty area before rippling the back of the net to complete his hat-trick.

The visitors were in a spot of bother when Carl McHugh received a second yellow card in the 81st minute. East Bengal FC made full use of their numeric advantage when David Lalhlansanga pulled one goal back in the 85th minute after Kattimani parried a long-range effort from Anwar Ali straight on his path.

East Bengal kept pushing for the equaliser in the final minutes but FC Goa held fort and walked away with maximum points.

File photo of East Bengal players.© X (formerly Twitter)