A resurgent Mumbai City FC will host desperate defending champions ATK in the fourth edition of the Hero Indian Super League at the Mumbai Football Arena on Sunday.
Teddy Sheringham's men have not managed to garner a win in four outings, drawing twice and losing as many to remain rooted at the bottom of the table. Shockingly enough, they have just two points in what has been a torrid start to the defence of their title.
On the other hand, Mumbai City had lost two of their first three games, but have picked up four points from a possible six in their last two matches. One can say that Alexandre Guimaraes seems to have finally found a way to make his players tick the right boxes.
ATK's previous game saw them suffer a heartbreaking loss to Chennaiyin FC with Jeje Lalpekhlua scoring a winner in injury time. The bright spark was certainly the slotting in of Robbie Keane, who set up a goal. He will once again be at the forefront of anything good that the Kolkata side produce on Sunday.
Sheringham admitted to a bit of pressure, especially given the fact that they're the defending champions, but also stated that he had the management's full support.
"They've seen the way we've attacked games and could have won with a little bit of luck. We also conceded a couple of silly goals, a couple of deflections as well, but it is up to us to stop those situations. We've caused our own problems and worked hard to rectify that. If a goalkeeper or the full-backs are left open, it's the entire team's fault," Sheringham said.
ATK will take heart from the fact that they're one of only three teams to have played four matches and even a point will take them off the bottom of the table.
A win can take them three places above to the eighth.
The defending champions need to get their act together, but Mumbai City will certainly not make it easy in their own backyard.
