ISL: Battle to sharpen semifinal hopes as Jamshedpur clash with Mumbai

Mumbai City FC and Jamshedpur FC will have sights set on inching closer to a semi-final spot when the two sides cross swords in a rescheduled Indian Super League match here on Thursday. Mumbai are placed fifth in the table with 25 points, same as Jamshedpur who are in the fourth spot but with a game in hand. A win for both teams will propel them to third place and help cut the gap on leaders Hyderabad FC and second-placed ATK Mohun Bagan.Mumbai arrested their lean patch with two back-to-back victories and have looked good of late with the likes of Bipin Singh coming good.

Singh scored a brace and provided one assist in the Islanders' 4-1 win over Odisha. Ahmed Jahouh is also aiming for a record of Mumbai's all-time leading assist provider. Nkufo Isako Arnold, who provided eight assists in the 2018-19 season of the ISL, holds the record now and Jahouh is tied for the second position after his seven assists this season.

"We are four matches unbeaten. We are coming into the back half of the season in and around the position we wanted to be in, which is the top-four. We just want to keep being sharp in our play.

It's important to continue the momentum," Mumbai head coach Des Buckingham said. Jamshedpur has been in a good goal scoring spree too, racking up three against the mighty Kerala Blasters. Daniel Chima Chukwu can't stop scoring goals since joining their ranks as he made it three out of three with a goal in the previous game.

Jamshedpur's strength lies in set-pieces too, the side scoring eight goals from free-kicks this season, the highest by any club. "It's going to be a tough game but we know that if we are at our very best, we can win games against top and tough teams. It's all to play for at the business end of the