Kerala Blasters were dominant without being at their best in their opening match of the Indian Super League 2015, and Peter Taylor will know they will need to be dominant and at their best if they are to beat Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Saturday.
The Blasters made a bit of a statement with a clinical second half show against NorthEast United FC on Tuesday, but Taylor, the new manager of the Sachin Tendulkar-owned team, was not entirely satisfied with the overall performance, especially the first 45, where the home team were a little wasteful in the final third.
However, riding on that ridiculously-good support from the crowd – there really is no better supported side in the ISL – the Kerala Blasters found their attacking verve, punishing the NorthEast with three well-worked goals.
The next step now is a win over Mumbai City, who lost their opening match of ISL 2015 to their Maharashtra rivals FC Pune City.
"Mumbai will want to win the next match and they are a very determined team," Taylor said. "We have to respect that and make sure we're prepared for the next match."
Defence will be the key according to Taylor, considering Mumbai City have some serious firepower up front, led by their player/manager Nicolas Anelka.
"They have good strikers up front and we have to get things right," Taylor, who played with three central defenders in the last game, added. "We have [play against] the likes of Anelka and [Andre] Moritz, however, I'm a firm believer of the fact that for a good performance the frontline has to play well as much as the backline."
That frontline could be boosted by the inclusion of former Arsenal man Sanchez Watt, who came on in the second half for Chris Dagnall and made an immediate impact. Taylor, though, insisted his decision will be based on how he thinks the Mumbai City lineup will shape up.
"I don't know he [Watt] might start, I do not have Mumbai's lineup in front of me so I don't know, I do not want to give out mine," The Englishman said.
Mumbai City, playing their second consecutive match away from home, will know the importance of picking up points on their travels. However, they will also know that they will be a much more formidable team when their India internationals return, chief of them being the captain Sunil Chhetri.
Undoubtedly, Mumbai City will be a far more potent side up front with Chhetri in the lineup, but for Saturday, they will have to make do without their star man.
"It is going to be a really interesting game between two teams who have different styles," Mumbai City assistant manager Oscar Bruzon said. "Kerala is more into direct football, similar to English football and we are a team who relies on a lot on possession.
"We are playing in Kerala and we are aware of their strong points. Possession doesn't necessarily mean goals. In the last match, NorthEast United FC had a lot of possession but they could not create any solid chances with that.
"We will be looking to keep the ball as much as possible and make sure we are creating chances with it."
Expected lineups: Kerala Blasters: Bywater; Bheke, Ramage, Perone, Williams, Vineeth; Carvalho, Hossain, Josu; Rafi, Watt.
Mumbai City FC: Gomes; Ashutosh, Bertin, Cmovs, Pererira; Shirodkar, Aguilera; Gabriel, Moritz, Norde, Anelka.
Where to Watch Live
Get the Match Report and Score HERE
Get the Live Blog and Score HERE
Get the players to Watch out for HERE
Kerala Blasters vs Mumbai City FC is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start. OK, hold your breath, these are the channels in India that will show this ISL 2015 Match 8 live -- Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3, Star Utsav, Star Gold (both Hindi), Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jaya Max (Tamil), Suvarna TV (Kannada) and Jalsha Movies (Bengali). The ISL 2015 match can also be watched via live streaming online (free) in India, and over a 100 countries, on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK can watch ISL 2015 Match live on Star Gold, while audience in Canada can watch the Indian Super League 2015 game live on CBN and ATN.
Middle East and North Africa viewers can catch the action live on OSN, with the live streaming option on OSN Play.
Viewers in the US and Australia can watch Chennai vs Kolkata live on Fox Sports, while the online live stream option is on Foxsoccer2go and Foxtel.
Eurosport will show the Indian Super League match live in Europe and South East Asia, while the Kerala Blasters vs Mumbai City match can also be live streamed on Eurosport Player. Viewers in Sub Saharan Africa can watch the ISL 2015 action live on Zuku and SuperSport.
