Chennai, Nov 8 (PTI) Former champions Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC will square off in the Indian Super League’s landmark 1000th game here on Saturday while in Kolkata, East Bengal FC will clash with debutants Mohammedan SC for the first time in the competition.
     Until now, 2791 goals have been scored as the league has seen 10 finals, six different playoff winners, and four separate league shield victors.
     The foundation for this competition was laid with erstwhile ATK’s 3-0 win against Mumbai City FC on October 12, 2014, in the first-ever ISL match.
     With 11 points from seven matches this season, the Marina Machans have accumulated their highest-ever tally after these many games in seven seasons. Their previous-best was the 13 points they had garnered in the same number of outings in the 2017-18 season of the competition.
     The Marina Machans had emerged as the ISL champions that season.
     However, Chennaiyin FC have repeatedly been unable to present their best game in their fixtures against Mumbai City FC. They have lost their last six games against the Islanders.
     Mumbai City FC’s frontline presents their A-game on the road, scoring in their 11 consecutive away matches. They have netted multiple times in nine of those games, and in the previous five of them on the bounce.
     The only side to score 2+ times in more successive away games in the ISL are the Islanders themselves (7 consecutive away games between February 2020 and January 2023). The Chennaiyin FC defence that has conceded 11 strikes so far will have to be wary of this.
     Chennaiyin FC have averaged 11.1 shots from inside the box per game in ISL 2024-25, as they are the only team to record over 10 such shots in every match.
     The Marina Machans have accumulated 78 shots from inside the 18-yard box, converting 15 of them into goals – being the third highest scorers this season.

     Rivalry resumes in Kolkata derby
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     On a day that will see the competition touch the landmark four-figure mark, it is only fitting that an age-old rivalry of Indian football resumes with East Bengal taking on Mohammedan SC.
     Both these teams have endured difficult starts to the season, with Mohammedan SC winning and drawing once in six games, and East Bengal FC losing all of their matches.
     They are placed 12th and 13th in the points table respectively, but with with two-thirds of the season still pending, the teams have ample time to get their campaign back on track.
     The Red & Gold Brigade have lost their last two home matches. The only time they were defeated more times on a trot was a sequence of four games between October-December 2022.
     They will want to put an end to this run against Mohammedan SC, thus bagging their first points of the season and set some sort of momentum to fuel their charge this term.
     One of East Bengal FC’s biggest concerns this year has been their inability to find the back of the net regularly upfront. They have scored four goals, but that is not reflective of their passing accuracy in the final third, i.e. 68.2%, which is the highest of any team.