ISL: Mumbai City FC to face in-form FC Goa (Preview)

Mumbai City FC coach Alexandre Guimaraes reckons his team is in much better shape to take on FC Goa in their second round of the Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Saturday.

Mumbai lost their opening match to Bengaluru FC 0-2. However, the coach is now certain that they will be a different side on Saturday.

"We are glad to be home where we did fantastic work last season. We have a tough game against Goa. We have to improve our performance. Everyone has their own struggles in the beginning and now we are much more complete in our squad, compared to the first game. We are prepared," Guimaraes said.

Mumbai were not at their attacking best in the previous game, managing few attempts at the goal. That, too, should change in the next game with better team conditions," the coach said, who will continue to miss influential Brazilian midfielder Leo Costa.

"We had too many situations which prevented us from being strong in some areas. Some key players like Balwant were injured, Leo Costa had to be replaced after 12 minutes. I am not very concerned about the last game. Sometimes you don't have a good game," he added.

FC Goa will miss Adrian Colunga but coach Sergio Lobera did well against Chennaiyin FC in the opening game without the Spanish attacker.

FC Goa won 3-2, despite conceding two goals in the second session and the Spanish coach made it clear that he will continue to be faithful to his attacking philosophy.

"When a team has to perform, they have to stick to their own ideology. if they try and do something different, the performance will not be as good. When we come to play, we will stick to the idea and philosophy," Lobera said .

Lobera's philosophy means FC Goa will start attacking right from the word go and will not sit back even if they have a decent lead, like the three-goal advantage against Chennaiyin FC.

"We had a good start. In football, living in the past will not get you anywhere. We have to focus on the next game. We don't focus on past results," he said.

--IANS

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