East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Durand Cup 2023 Match Preview, Head-to-Head, and Team News: Both teams aiming for the 17th title; Spotlight on the Coaches and Referees

On Sunday, September 03, 2023, Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Emami East Bengal will face each other at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in the 'Kolkata derby', to earn the right to be called champions of the Durand Cup 2023. The match will kick off at 4 pm Indian Standard Time (IST). Both teams had a brilliant campaign although most of the matches were very close. East Bengal have already defeated Mohun Bagan once during the group stages so they will be confident enough to go against the dominating Mohun Bagan side in the ultimate clash. Although the Mohun Bagan head coach Juan Ferrando just stated it as a pre-season earlier, he is also changing his words right now. On the other side, Carles Cuadrat will try to improve his side by giving a brilliant performance against their rivals.

Read Also: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan: Head-to-Head Stats

Controversial Semi-Finals

Both teams made it to the final after a fair share of controversy. East Bengal fans were accused of racism and hooliganism by NorthEast United supporters at the Salt Lake Stadium during the semis, which Red & Gold Brigade won dramatically in a penalty shootout after going 0-2 down in regulation time earlier.

Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, were handed a controversial penalty from a stupid call by the referee. The replays made it clear that FC Goa defender Jay Gupta fouled Ashique Kuruniyan right outside the box but the referee pointed to the spot instead. Mohun Bagan eventually won the game as Armando Sadikou scored a stunning goal in the second half to put the Green and Maroon Army at the front for the rest of the night.

The referees will be in the spotlight in the final as it surely will be an intense match. If any decisions go wrong, then there will be absolute chaos.

East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Durand Cup 2023: Match Preview

Match Details

• Match: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Durand Cup 2023 Final
• Kickoff time & Date: 03/09/2023 | 04:00 P.M. IST
• Venue: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan
• Where to watch: Sony Liv app and website, Sony Ten 2 & Sony Ten 2 HD

East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan | Head-to-Head

In Durand Cup history, East Bengal have won 9 times, and Mohun Bagan 7 times while drawing five times in 21 matches. East Bengal scored 17 times while the Mariners scored 14 times in those games.

Head-to-Head (Durand Cup):

• Total Matches Played – 21
• Mohun Bagan SG wins – 7
• East Bengal FC wins – 9
• Draws – 5

Overall Kolkata Derby Head-to-Head record:

EB vs MBSG H2H Record (Last Five Games):

• East Bengal 1-0 Mohun Bagan SG; August 2023 - Durand Cup
• East Bengal 0 - 2 Mohun Bagan SG; February 2023 - ISL
• Mohun Bagan SG 2 - 0 East Bengal; October 2022 - ISL
• East Bengal 0 - 1 Mohun Bagan SG; August 2022 - Durand Cup
• Mohun Bagan SG 3 - 1 East Bengal; January 2022 - ISL

• East Bengal: 1 win
• Mohun Bagan: 4 wins
• Draws: 0

East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan | Team News

East Bengal:

Prabhsukhan Gill will be guarding the goal line instead of training with the Indian U-23 camp for AFC U-23 in Bhubaneswar. Carles Cuadrat could instruct his EB side to sit back in front of their box and then release Nandhakumar Sekar, hero of the previous Derby win, and Naorem Mahesh Singh on the wings to whip in inviting crosses for target man Javier Siverio.

Midfielder Souvik Chakrabarti is unavailable to play the game after seeing back-to-back yellow cards in two matches. Cuadrat could field Cleiton Silva from the very beginning, which would mean sacrificing the defensive-minded Borja Herrera or playmaker Saul Crespo, a tough choice. His fullbacks Harmanjot Khabra and Nishu Kumar or Mandar Rao Desai would need extra protection when Aashique Kuruniyan, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, or Dimi Petratos run at them.

East Bengal Pre-match press conference:

Where does Carles Cuadrat place his side against Mohun Bagan?

"They have played four games and won the four games and so on. They are in another mode, they have that kind of dynamic, positive, and if you see they are playing every cup. So it gives good experience and, they have been beating the champion of Nepal, the champion of Bangladesh and the champion of India because they beat Mumbai and Mumbai was the champion of the ISL. So yeah, they have been building his mentality and also building the team physically," the East Bengal boss Carles Cuadrat said.

"But at the same time, we can see that most of the games have been by narrow margins. A lot of times it has been a penalty that opens the door for the victory. A lot of times it has been that they have conceded one goal. So yeah, it's going to be a great football match and we will try to use our weapons to try to get the victory for sure," he added.

Read the full pre-match press conference here: "We will try to use our weapons to try to get the victory for sure," East Bengal head coach Carles Cuadrat is ready to face Mohun Bagan in the Duand Cup 2023 Final

Mohun Bagan:

Mohun Bagan SG has a near full-strength squad available for the final. Juan Ferrando has the luxury of falling back to his other options if his initial plan doesn't work like he brought Armando Sadiku to get him a goal during a tense period of play against Goa. Choosing four foreigners would be a happy headache for him as they have too many options.

Both teams are locked on 16 titles each. They would also want to go one-up on each other to become the most successful team in the history of the competition. This adds to the stakes of the contest. In their last meeting in the final, East Bengal won 2-1 in 2004, while MBSG last won it in 2000. Jason Cummings will be the biggest threat from the Mohun Bagan SG squad which boasts of brilliant attacking players. The striker leads the forward line expertly.

Mohun Bagan Pre-match press conference:

What's the difference between the earlier loss against East Bengal and the upcoming Final?

For me, the past is the past. All the time we explain every month is different and the situation is against us. Now I think I'm happy because the players are fit. They are very, very, very important for us. You know I took it. We are happy because we reached the final. It's a pleasure to play the final, but it's totally different situation than the last match against them. This is a real target for us," the Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando said.

"The thing is when you learn about the mistakes this time to training sessions to improve these days. But without training, I know it's the most important for me who be ready because in the last 10 days they played four matches. These players are playing in 90-90 minutes. So it's difficult to work in this situation. Because it's only recovery and it's not possible to work in training sessions. So we will accept this and repeat it after the final. I thought we'd be ready for the practice the next week. It's a normal situation with all the teams. Obviously, we can change some things or improve some details," he added.

Read the full pre-match press conference here: "This is a real target for us," Mohun Bagan head coach Juan Ferrando ahead of the Durand Cup 2023 Final against East Bengal

East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan | Possible Lineups

East Bengal FC (4-2-3-1):

• Prabhsukhan Gill(GK), Nishu Kumar, Lalchungnunga, Jordan Elsey, Mandar Rao Desai, Jose Pardo, Harmanjot Khabra, Saul Crespo, Nandhakumar Sekar, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Javier Siverio.

Mohun Bagan SG (4-2-3-1):

• Vishal Kaith(GK), Asish Rai, Anwar Ali, Brendan Hamill, Subhasish Bose, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Ashique Kuruniyan, Dimitri Petratos, Hugo Boumous, Jason Cummings.