Unbeaten Bengaluru face Mumbai hurdle

Unbeaten in ir seven matches so far, defending champions Bengaluru FC will look to jump to top of table when y take on Mumbai City FC at home in an Indian Super League clash here on Sunday. After an indifferent start, Bengaluru have found ir mojo back and y sit second on table with 13 points from seven matches.

More importantly, Carles Cuadrat's men are unbeaten and have best defensive record in competition. Bengaluru have conceded just two goals so far and one of m came from a penalty. Mumbai face a tough task of breaching Bengaluru backline at Sree Kanteerava where y are yet to ship in a goal this season. Both goals y conceded came in away matches.

Led by Juanan and ably supported by Albert Serran and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Bengaluru rarely afford opponents a crack at ir goal. In fact, y have faced lowest shots at home (23) in league. Whenever defence has come under pressure, Gurpreet has been sensational in forming last line of defence. He was particularly exceptional in Bengaluru's 1-0 win over Odisha FC in previous game, pulling off six saves.

"I think Mumbai have a few new players, but soul of team is same. I trust my players and my team to do a good job. We have made it tough for teams to score against us, and we aren't a good opponent to play against," said Cuadrat. While ir defence has been exemplary, Bengaluru have struggled in attack. ir forward line has struggled to score goals and has just seven to show for ir efforts. In fact, y scored more than one goal in a game just once -- in a 3-0 win over Chennaiyin FC.

Jorge Costa's Mumbai side will bank on Amine Chermiti to trouble Bengaluru backline. Moroccan is focal point in attack and has scored four goals this season. Mumbai badly need a win at this juncture, having gone on a six-game winless run after ir opening match win over Kerala Blasters.

"It's true that in last games we did t lose but we did t win. We performed eugh to win games so tomorrow we need to continue like this with quality and a little bit of luck," said Costa. Portuguese coach will bank on his team's away form. y are unbeaten on ir travels and six of ir seven points so far have come from away games. Only FC Goa (9) and Odisha FC (8) have scored more goals away from home than Islanders (5). "With all respect to Bengaluru, we are speaking about champions. We will respect Bengaluru and all teams but we want to play with quality and do our best to win game," said Costa.