Football
AFC Cup: All teams to fight for qualification on last day — Preview, predicted XI, when and where to watch
AFC Cup Group stage is going to hit a zenith of excitement, as all the four teams from the Group D- ATK Mohun Bagan, Bashundhara Kings, Gokulam Kerala FC and Maziya SR hold equal chances of qualification
ATK Mohun Bagan during their match against Basundhara Kings (Source: ATK Mohun Bagan/Twitter)
The final day of the AFC Cup Group stage is going to hit a zenith of excitement, as all the four teams from the Group D- ATK Mohun Bagan, Bashundhara Kings, Gokulam Kerala FC and Maziya SR hold equal chances of qualification with all the teams winning a match each while losing one. However, ATK Mohun Bagan is ahead currently with an advantage in the goal difference. It all comes down to the final day, where Gokulam Kerala FC take on Bashundhara Kings and ATK Mohun Bagan fight Maziya SR.
In an attempt to revive from their shocking loss against Maziya SR, coach Alberto Annese will look forward to bringing out the best of his tactics, as they aim for the Asian glory. On the other hand, Bangladesh Premier League winners Bashundhara Kings who have been handed a 4-0 defeat by ATK Mohun Bagan will try to do their best to overturn the woes. Both the teams have not reported any injury as of yet and are set to field a complete playing XI. However, Head Coach Oscar Burzon might include forward Nuha Marong back into the lineup as the Bashundhara attack felt stale without him.
As for ATK Mohun Bagan, Coach Juan Ferrando might stick to his same defensive formation with a supply line of Joni Kauko for his upcoming must win game against Maziya SR. The Maldives' side, on the other hand, claimed a narrow victory over favourites Gokulam Kerala might look to upset the Kolkata giants as well with the previous encounter between the sides, ending in a 3-1 loss for the Maldives side. While the Mariners will be without the services of Tiri and midfielder Hugo Boumous, Coach Ferrando might start custodian Amrinder Singh after giving him some rest the previous matchday.
Predictive Starting XI:
Gokulam Kerala FC: Rakshit Dagar (GK); Muhammed Uvais, Aminou Bouba, Alex Saji, Mohammed Jassim; Sharif Mukhammad (C), Emil Benny, Rishad; Thahir Zaman, Jithin MS, Luka Majcen.
Bashundhara Kings: Anisur Rahman Zico (GK), Tariq Kazi, Bishwanath Ghosh, Khaled Shafiei, Yeasin Arafat, Masuk Miah Zoni, Sohel Rana, Mohammad Ibrahim, Miguel Figueira, Robinho, Nuha Marong.
ATK Mohun Bagan: Amarinder Singh(GK), Subhasish Bose, Sandesh Jhingan, Pritam Kotal, Prabir Das; Joni Kauko, Deepak Tangri, David Williams, Liston Colaco, Roy Krishna(C), Manvir Singh.
Maziya SR: Kiran Kumar Limbu(GK), Shifaz Hassan, Ali Samooh, Nemanja Kartal, Haisham Hassan, Hussain Nihan, Ibrahim Aisham, Hassan Naiz, Tana, Hamzath Mohamed, Cornelius Stewart.
The match between Gokulam Kerala and Bashundhara Kings will begin at 4.30 PM IST. While ATK Mohun Bagan and Maziya SR will begin from 8.30 PM IST.
All matches of AFC Cup 2022, including those of ATK Mohun Bagan and Gokulam Kerala FC, will be telecast live on the Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD TV channels in India and will be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.
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