ISL
ATK Mohun Bagan v/s East Bengal- First ISL Kolkata Derby at home: Preview, Head-to-Head, Where to Watch, Live Stream
Indian Super League will witness it's first ever Kolkata Derby in the flesh! Here's everything you need to know about that.
ISL will witness its first Kolkata derby with fans in the stands!
ATK Mohun Bagan will play East Bengal in what will be the Indian Super League's first-ever Kolkata derby at home in front of fans. The historic match-up will be played on 29th October, 2022 at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata from 7:30 pm IST onwards.
Preview
Both Kolkata sides will be coming into the 'Boro' match after resounding wins against their previous opponents. The Mariners humbled Kerala Blasters in Kochi in a 5-2 vistory, whereas the Red and Gold got their first ISL win in a long time after defeating NorthEast United FC 3-1 in Guwahati.
On paper, Juan Ferrando's side is by far the more settled, and the more established lot of the two. However, as ATKMB skipper Pritam Kotal said tha the derby is always a "50-50" match. Even EBFC forward Cleiton Silva believes that his team might just surprise everyone on the day.
Questions were asked of ATK Mohun Bagan's dearth in attacking prowess up front when the goals weren't coming thick and fast. This largely was due to the departure of marquee players like Roy Krishna and David Williams. To the Mariners' pleasant surprise, Dimitri Petratos came out with a hattrick against the Yellow Army, and the Australian might be the answer to their goal drought.
If we move to the Red and Gold camp, it's been a work-in-progress since day one, and coach Stephen Constantine continues to stress on the fact that they aren't the "finished article" just yet. Against NEUFC, the Englishman's side did show aggressive, compact, and free-flowing football. But can the fledgling East Bengal side inflict a blow on the superior ATK Mohun Bagan?
Head-to-Head
If we look at the last 10 Kolkata derbies across all competitions, East Bengal has won just one time back in 2019 in their 2-0 win over Mohun Bagan in the I-League. The Mariners have come out to be the better side on eight other ocassions as one match was cancelled in March, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the ISL, ATK Mohun Bagan have won all the four meetings between both sides. They included 2-0, 3-1, 3-0, 3-1 victories over East Bengal in the league. Hence, if the Red and Gold were to win the upcoming derby, then that would be their first derby win in ISL and first victory after seven consecutive derby losses.
The most recent derby was in the 2022 Durand Cup group stage, where a Sumeet Passi own goal gave ATKMB all three points and the bragging rights to the rivalry.
Where to Watch?
The Kolkata derby will telecast across the Star Sports Network.
Live Stream
You can also catch the match live on Disney+Hotstar platform. Moreover, The Bridge will also come with LIVE updates around the exciting match.
