The focus will finally shift to Nicolas Anelka and his goalscoring prowess on the pitch as the former Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool striker makes his return from suspension when his Mumbai City FC side face Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Both teams suffered forgettable losses in their last match and will be keen to bounce back and find that winning groove again.
Mumbai City, the team that many favoured to go on and clinch the first ever ISL title, have had a difficult start to their campaign, losing two of their first three matches, including a 2-0 reverse at home to NorthEast United in their last game.
While they found their goalscoring prowess in the 5-0 thumping of Pune City in the Maharashtra Derby, courtesy an Andre Moritz hat-trick, Mumbai have drawn blanks in their other two games – a 3-0 opening loss to Atletico de Kolkata and a 2-0 defeat against NorthEast United.
Scoring consistently will be key to success in this ISL, and there is no better potential goal poacher in this league than Anelka. If the former Real Madrid striker can find his groove on his return from a ban, then Mumbai City will soon be zooming back up the Indian Super League table.
"His training is first-class," said Mumbai City manager Peter Reid about Anelka. "He is a top-class professional and is looking forward to the game.
"[But] we know it is a difficult game. We are playing against some very good players."
Chennaiyin, after two straight victories to open their ISL campaign, was brought back down to earth by Delhi Dynamos on Saturday, with Alessandro Del Piero and co. crushing Marco Materazzi's men 4-1.
Chennaiyin had shown plenty of defensive resolve and the penchant for scoring important goals in their first two matches against FC Goa and Kerala Blasters – both 2-1 wins – but that assured defence fell apart under the Dynamos surge.
Materazzi will know the importance of stopping Mumbai City from grabbing the momentum, like they did against Pune City, and Anelka, in particular, will be watched closely by the defenders.
"We will not be changing anything in the backline," said Chennaiyin assistant coach Vivek Nagul. The defence will remain the same.
"The team is well equipped to deal with Anelka. The defence is strong enough to tackle the situation when Anelka is in possession of the ball."
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The match is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start with live TV coverage in India provided by quite a few channels including Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Gold, Asianet Movies, Suvarna Channel and Jalsha Movies. Viewers can also watch the ISL match via free live streaming online on Starsports.com.
US viewers can live stream the action on FoxSoccer2go, while Europe viewers can catch the action live on Eurosport or their online Player. Middle East and North Africa viewers can watch the game on Bein Sports or via live streaming on Bein Sports Connect.
South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa audience can catch the ISL match live on SuperSport or their online option. Australia viewers can catch the match live on Fox Sports 2 or via their live video option online.
