Mohun Bagan hold a clear edge over local outfit Mahindra United when the two clash in the second round of the National Football League at the Cooperage here tomorrow. All eyes will be on the Kolkata outfit’s speedy forward Jose Ramirez Barreto, who had a magnificent outing in his team’s opening match against Mohammedan Sporting a couple of days ago.Also hogging the limelight would be the two new Brazilian recruits — striker Eduardo Rebeiro and central midfielder Leonardo Monorat de Almeida — who have been cleared to play at Mumbai. The star-studded Bagan side will have Prasanta Dora under the bar with Manitombi Singh, Sanjeeb Maria and Harpreet Singh in the deep defence.Lolendra Singh playing the withdrawn role, Mehtab Hussain, Rocus Lamare and Hardeep Gill will be doing duty in the midfield while Barreto will have support on either flank from captain Renedy Singh and Ashim Biswas.Bagan have a few solid players on the bench also, including Palash Karmakar, Rishi Kapoor and Basudeb Mondal. The hosts disappointed during their drab 0-2 loss to Goan side Dempo on Sunday. With their star forward S Venkatesh still to recover from an injury, Mahindra will have to play both Raphael Patron Akakpo and Felix Aboagye upfront. Kalyan Chaubey may be replaced with a much younger Naseem Akhtar but the defence will remain in the hands of Sanjay Part, Covan Lawrence, Ordartey Lawson and Arun Malhotra.Holders looking to strike formMARGAO: Holders East Bengal would look to strike form against Vasco Sports Club during their crucial round two match of the NFL on Thursday/ East Bengal, who disappointed with their performance against Salgaocar in the opener on Sunday, have their task cut out. Coach Subhas Bhowmick said, “I expect my team to realise their mistakes and put up an improved performance against Vasco.”
