The Nizami (K)nights - Hyderabad FC vs Mohun Bagan ISL Match Preview

The Nizami (K)nights - Hyderabad FC vs Mohun Bagan ISL Match Preview 

Courtesy: Hyderabad FC Media

The stadium had been packed very early that day; well it’s the Kolkata derby after all; games cannot get bigger than that in Indian Football, as fans from both sides with the utmost faith in their team gathered in the arena of dreams. 

Nevertheless, the Mariners made easy work of their rivals with a scoreline which was convincing but even that doesn’t tell the full story. It could have been worse, even worse than the result against Mohammedan had we not been on the end of a couple of baffling refereeing decisions. 

Still however, the win proves a lot of things, mainly the fact that the team, which looked absolutely unrecognisable a month ago, has started playing a very beautiful brand of possession football, more importantly winning games. As they say wins are like ketchup, it may take a while to come out but when it does, it never stops flowing.

But the manager? Despite being on the hot seat for a prolonged period of time, he might have figured out his best starting eleven yet. Only he knows whether he will try to rotate his team against a Hyderabad side fighting for survival as an entity. Even though they could rope in a few foreigners and with a very good coach had a famous (and a huge) win against the newly promoted MDSP, will they be able to weather the Mariners’ storm?  

Hyderabad FC: Players to Watch

Parag Shrivas

The now 27 year old was once hyped as the next big leftback talent when he permanently signed for Bengaluru FC as a rookie 21 year old in 2018. The notion that he could not shine there is wrong, however he could not reach the heights many had predicted him to reach. 

However he is a leftback with exceptional abilities which he sometimes uses to complete perfection. Even if he is polarizing and inconsistent, on his day he can hurt his opposition with some of his precise skills. Probably his best skillset is his unpredictable long shots which are very very precise. 

Stefan Sapic

Standing at 202 cms, it is mainly his height which creates a whole lot to problems for the opposition. Especially when you have a guy like that in corners, you will have to mark him with a guy close to his height else it will be a complete mismatch like it happened the other day. 

However there are other advantages of that aswell, his height and strengths makes him a very good box-defender capable of sweeping away crosses, both low and floated and put in a perfect slide tackle if needed. Moreover his passing has been quite good aswell, much like many other Serbian defenders while his overall movements reminds me of a talented youngster named Strahinja Pavlovic of AC Milan. We need to get past him and mark him well.

Hyderabad FC: Tactical Analysis

Courtesy: ISL on JioCinema

My first analysis will be about Parag Shrivas and his positioning in and around the penalty box. Judging by this image, it is obvious that he is not a natural leftback that holds his position always but an inverted one which gets forward whenever possible. 

The moment when he was shaping up for the shot he was in a position where you expect a defensive midfielder or a playmaker to be, and this is one of coach Thongboi Singto’s strong points, he makes his players incredibly versatile and really tough to contain, position wise. The best way to contain him would be to specifically man mark him with one player, preferably manvir. 

Even if he cuts in, manvir can follow him and considering his strength from central areas, him being out of position will not matter much. This is a small indicator of their compactness in defence, and a we can see, they are quite aggressive with their man to man marking, giving up as little space as possible in the central areas. 

Courtesy: ISL on JioCinema


The main advantage of this tactic for them is that the opponents will then have to rely on long balls and hopeful crosses which they will have no problem to repel with their precise no nonsense defenders adept in box-defending, namely Alex Saji and Sapic. I haven’t seen much of their defensive midfielder Alba, but he seems to be a very elite ball carrier and a good box to box midfielder aswell.   

I think we will be able to tackle it considering how creative our midfielders are but we will need to do it from the early stages of the game. Only an early goal can help unsettle their defensive shape because it is coached very efficiently.

Courtesy: ISL on JioCinema

This is their positioning in a counter if it is well executed. The man with the ball is not the attacking midfielder, nor it is the defensive midfielder. It is the left back, Parag Shrivas who will, even against the mariners, advance forward and try to play these balls. It will give them an extra man but will make them a lot out of position as well

The brazilian attacker Souza can be of a threat aswell and he is of a complete striker type. So if Hyderabad relies on long balls, he will not be much of a threat. However he has slick movements which can be dangerous at any time.

The Situation for Mohun Bagan 

The huge win over our two arch rivals did surely bring some joys in the faces or mariners supporters, cooling down Jose Molina’s seat in the process. But it is mohunbagan, and here a few bad results are enough to get you in the danger zone again. It will be advisable, thus, to not be complacent and keep the head held up high in the next stretch of fixtures.

With Mclaren fit and raring to go, whilst displaying a good-level of performances in the two games aswell, the striker situation of the club seems perfectly fine. We now have a striker who had proven himself in the league last season and will be hungry to do so this season aswell, while our starting striker as of now seems to be in a perfect shape, possessing good leadership capabilities. 

With the team rested and focused, the three points and a decent performance should be the bare minimum from this game. Some words about the foreign centreback pair, they have been brilliant everytime they had been involved. Even though I am not sure about their contract situation come the end of the season, I will just hope that they keep this level of performances till the end of the season. 

The Indian pivot pair has been very very solid aswell and I think the team looks so much more balanced now. Sharp contrast from the disastrous game against Bengaluru, which was so bad that even diehard Molina believers wanted him to be sacked.

Predicted Lineups

Hyderabad FC (4-2-3-1): Jongte; Rafi-Sapic-Saji-Shrivas; Alba-Vanmmalsawma; Rabeeh-Cy Goddard-Chhunga Hmar; Souza

Mohun Bagan (4-2-3-1): Kaith; Rai-Aldred-Alberto-Subhashis; Thapa-Apuia; Manvir-Stewart-Liston; Maclaren.

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