While Navbahor will be determined to get full points since a victory will surely ensure them one of the three Round of 16 spots available for the second-placed teams from the West Zone, Mumbai City, on the other hand, will do their best to sign off with a win in what has been a difficult sec
Punjab FC suffered a 5-1 defeat to Chennaiyin FC away from home in their previous match while Mumbai City FC drew their previous round against ten 10 men Hyderabad FC at home. They had also suffered a 6-0 defeat to Saudi heavyweights AL-Hilal in the AFC Champions League.
A strong second-half show from the hosts that saw them score all their goals in the second 45 minutes took them temporarily to the top of Group D while the Islanders remained bottom.
Hosseini’s cool close-range finish put the Iranian side in front in the 34th minute and Azadi made sure the Hafzi Cup holders took all three points back to the Islamic Republic of Iran with a strike from inside the six-yard box in the 62nd minute
A win for either side will amplify their chances of qualifying for the next round of the tournament. Mumbai City FC played in the ACL in the 2022 season and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the knockout rounds after finishing second in the group stage. FC Nassaji Mazandaran on the other
The Saudi Arabian side have significantly strengthened in the transfer market bringing in the likes of Neymar, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Aleksander Mitrovic and Malcom and the Islanders will have their work cut out when they take on Al-Hilal.
The Islanders who are India’s only representative in Asia’s premier club competition have been grouped alongside Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, Iran’s FC Nassaji Mazandaran and Uzbekistan’s Navbahor.