Indian Super League: Goalscorer Selections for Matchday 21
by Devesh Jaganath | by Cydias Aujard
Mohun Bagan vs. Punjab FC: Jamie McLaren
Matchday 21 in the ISL kicks off with the league leaders Mohun Bagan taking on Punjab FC at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake City. The defending champions have already built up a nine-point lead at the top of the ISL standings and are unbeaten in their last seven league matches, five of which ended in victory.
Leading the charge for the Mariners will be Jamie McLaren, who is the all-time highest goalscorer in the history of the Australian A-League and arrived in Kolkata at the start of this season from Melbourne City for whom he scored 113 goals in 162 appearances and won the Golden Boot in four of the last five seasons.
The 31-year-old attacker has scored six goals in 15 starts for the champs and also picked up an assist in their 4-0 demolition of newcomers Mohammedan over the past weekend. McLaren has not scored in his last four appearances but did find the net in his penultimate home game against East Bengal, and he will be raring to go this week against a defence that has shipped 15 goals in their last eight matches.
NorthEast United FC vs Mumbai City: Alaeddine Ajaraie
On Friday, NorthEast United will be out to extend their unbeaten record in the top flight when they play host to Mumbai City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. This promises to be one of the matches of the round, with both sides locked level of 28 points after 18 games and still in with a shot of cracking the top two before the end of the term.
The Highlanders are ahead of the Islanders owing to their superior goal difference of +12, which is the second-best in the division behind league leaders Mohun Bagan. NorthEast have scored a very impressive tally of 35 goals so far this season, and the driving force behind their success in front of goal is the form of centre-forward Alaeddine Ajaraie.
The Moroccan striker joined the Highlanders from FAR Rabat in the summer and has hit the ground running, smashing in a sensational 16 goals in 18 games, including in his most recent outing against Hyderabad FC last week. Ajaraie also bagged a brace against this opponent in the reverse fixture at the end of December and leads the ISL Golden Boot standings, five clear of his closest rival.
Bengaluru FC vs Jamshedpur FC: Sunil Chhetri
Sunday’s standalone fixture in the Indian Super League will see Bengaluru taking on Jamshedpur at the Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bangalore. Both these sides are enjoying an impressive league campaign this term after finishing in the bottom three of the top flight in 2023-24.
The Blues enter this match in need of a change of fortune, having failed to win any of their last six matches (W0 D1 L5) which has seen them slip to fifth place in the table. However, their skipper and stalwart Sunil Chhetri seems to be in the form of his life, even at 40 years of age. Chhetri is second in the Golden Boot standings on 11 goals in 19 games, with seven of those strikes coming on his home patch.
However, Chhetri’s counterpart, Javi Hernandez, is certainly one to watch in this match as well. The Red Miners’ captain has been in a rich vein of form of late, netting four goals and two assists in his last five games, taking his tally for the season to seven goals, placing him eighth in the leading scorer standings. These sides will feel that this is a match they can win, and both skippers could have a major say in the final outcome.
