ISL 2023: Punjab Football Club hoping to bounce back against Mumbai City FC

Punjab FC will face defending ISL Winners Mumbai City FC in Round 6 of the Indian Super League 2023-24 season tomorrow which will be played here at the Mumbai Football Arena. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 8 PM.

PFC 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.

Speaking ahead of the game, PFC Head Coach Staikos Vergetis said, “In football, I believe that the gap between home and away games is not as big as it was before. We enjoy the atmosphere in away games and we enjoy playing football in front of the fans and of course, it's not exactly the same as home game but yes the gap is not very big. In the last game, things didn't go well for us. In the crucial moments, we lost chances and conceded the goals. Bad memories were many in that game but yes, we want to be more competitive. And yes tomorrow we want to perform well against a competitive opponent and we hope to get positive results. Tomorrow's match there will be some changes but not many. And changes will be made just as a part of the strategy and not to accuse or criticise the players after the last game.”

PFC goalkeeper Ravi Kumar, during the pre–match press conference said, “Personally, I believe, as a team, we didn't perform well in the last match and the team is aware of that and in the next match against my former club, Mumbai City FC, I believe that we will do our best and give our best. Junior players of my team are all here by being champions in the I-League and yes they need some time to adapt to the ISL. But yes, the team is in a good shape and tomorrow, I believe, the team will do good job against Mumbai City FC.”

Punjab FC are eleventh on the table with two points from five matches while Mumbai City FC are fifth on the table with eight points from four matches.