ISL 2018-19: Pune City vs ATK: Match preview and prediction
What's the story
Pune City will be taking on ATK tomorrow at their home in their return Indian Super League fixture. While Pune are currently seventh on the league table with 14 points from 13 matches, ATK are sixth with 20 points from 14 matches. Will ATK equal points with fifth-placed Jamshedpur with a win tomorrow? Here is our detailed match preview.
Pune City
How are the hosts looking ahead of the encounter?
Matt Mills remains injured and might miss out on the action tomorrow. Pune have won their last three matches and will want to continue their form with a win against ATK tomorrow. Pune have managed to win their first match under new manager Phil Brown and it remains to be seen if they manage to perform consistently under him.
ATK
Are ATK geared up for the match?
ATK are still in the fight for a playoff spot, but their manager, Steve Coppell, has to adopt a new attacking strategy to help them win more matches. They have already drawn five matches this season, and should now concentrate on playing a more attacking brand of football. A boost for the Kolkata side will be that they are not suffering from injury or suspension concerns.
Key players
Who will be the key players in the match tomorrow?
Pune City's Ashique Kuruniyan can prove to be a threat for ATK as he can be a danger when gearing up for an attack from the wings. ISL's all-time highest goalscorer Ian Hume can also prove to be dangerous for his former team ATK. ATK have a strong attacking line-up in the form of Everton Santos, Edu Garcia, and Manuel Lanzarote.
TV listing
Predicted line-up and TV listing
Pune City: Kamaljit, Panwar, Diaz, Golui, Kuruniyan, Stankovic, Khan, Carlos, Marcelinho, Hume, Robin Singh. ATK: Bhattacharya, Lallawmawma, Mondal, Johnson, Kotal, Vieira, Halder, Sharma, Santos, Garcia, Lanzarote The match is scheduled to kick-off at 7:30 PM, and can be watched on the Star Sports network or live-streamed on Hotstar and Jio TV.
Prediction
How can the match turn out tomorrow?
Both teams look well-equipped for tomorrow's challenge and it is hard to gauge who should be the favorites. ATK have a solid defense and have conceded very few goals this term, and if they manage to get an early goal and defend strongly, they can pick up a win tomorrow against Pune City. We predict 1-0 in ATK's favor.
Fantasy XI
What should be the ideal Fantasy XI for this match?
Choose a 4-3-3 formation with Arindam Bhattacharya as the goalkeeper. Diaz and Arnab should be the center-backs while Kotal and Panwar take up the right and left back roles respectively. Adil, Gerson and Halder can be the midfielders while Garcia, Robin Singh, and Hume take on the attacking responsibilities.