The Maharashtra Derby will be the cynosure on Saturday in the Indian Super League as Mumbai City FC host FC Pune City at the DY Patil Stadium.
Where to Watch Live
The match is scheduled for a 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET) start with live coverage in India on Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Gold, Asianet Movies, Suvarna Channel and Jalsha Movies.
Viewers can also watch the Maharashtra Derby of the ISL via live streaming online for free 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.
Mumbai City FC are coming off a the-sooner-forgotten-the-better loss to Atletico de Kolkata in the inaugural match of the ISL, while FC Pune City did pretty well to hold Delhi Dynamos to an away goalless draw.
The team from Mumbai were pretty poor in their opening match against Kolkata, and will know plenty of improvements are in order. Mumbai City looked a side bereft of ideas going forward without their two superstars – Freddie Ljungberg and Nicolas Anelka.
Anelka will definitely miss the match against Pune, but Arsenal legend Ljungberg could be available for some kind of action after coming through training on Friday.
In their opening game, the bigger worry, though, was the defence, with Mumbai leaking in three goals against Kolkata.
Indian stalwart Syed Rahim Nabi, who is capable of playing in a number of positions, will be unavailable for the next couple of weeks through injury, while former Germany international Manuel Friedrich will look to take up the mantle and marshal his defence a lot better than he did last Sunday.
"It is important to talk to each other and to communicate," said Friedrich. "When there is an understanding among ourselves we will be able to play our natural game."
Pune City are coming off a resilient defensive performance against Delhi Dynamos, even if their attack left a lot to be desired.
Deciding to play on the counter-attack away from home, Pune City, apart from a few glimpses, rarely showed their attacking prowess, with David Trezeguet cutting a frustrated figure for the majority of the match.
If Pune are to open their account in the ISL, then they will have to perform a lot better as an attacking unit, and the iffy Mumbai City defence might just be the perfect opportunity for them to do so.
"We defended well and we had great concentration but not many counter attacks," admitted Trezeguet. "I am happy with the result as our opponents are a good team."
Pune City coach Franco Colomba hopes that the opening draw has helped his team settle into the ISL a little bit more, and there will be improvements in the performance against Mumbai.
"I hope the next game is better and I hope we can win the game," he said. "The most important thing is that our team has now come to terms that we are playing in the tournament
"There were a lot of emotions in the first game and the team has now come to terms with that which will definitely impact positively on the performance."
