Maclaren scored four the last time Odisha came to Salt Lake, and he is back for Mohun Bagan tonight
ISL leaders Mohun Bagan go for a fourth straight win without Sahal Abdul Samad, against an Odisha side still waiting for their first.
Nov 5, 2026
The last time Odisha FC came to the Salt Lake Stadium, Jamie Maclaren scored four of Mohun Bagan’s five goals. That was in March, in a 5-1 win that kept Mohun Bagan top of the table. Maclaren has been injured, and he is fit and back in the squad for tonight’s game against Odisha, which kicks off at 7:30pm IST.
Mohun Bagan are top again. They lost their opening game 1-0 at NorthEast United and have won all three since, most recently 2-1 against Punjab FC on Saturday. A fourth straight win would take them to 12 points.
Sahal out, Maclaren back
The Punjab win cost Panagiotis Dilmperis one of his best players. Sahal Abdul Samad went off with a knee injury in the 12th minute, and he will miss tonight. Miguel Figueira, who scored the winner against Sporting Club Delhi for Mohun Bagan’s first win of the season, is also out, and Lalengmawia Ralte is a doubt.
Anirudh Thapa came on for Sahal on Saturday and set up Lee Erwin’s equaliser within six minutes, so Dilmperis has an obvious replacement. Maclaren adds another forward to a side already getting goals from Erwin and Dejan Dražić, whose shot from distance won the Punjab game.
Dilmperis wants a better start than the one his side made against Punjab, who scored inside three minutes. “When we play at home, the team should start from the first second with aggression,” he said on Wednesday. He also admitted the fans have reason to complain about some of the home performances: “Fans have the right to be satisfied or dissatisfied for their own reasons.”
Odisha still looking for a win
Odisha have two points from three games and are tenth in the 13-team table. They let in an 89th-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 at Inter Kashi, then held unbeaten NorthEast to a goalless draw in Bhubaneswar on 24 October, when Hrithik Tiwari kept their first clean sheet of the season. They have not played since.
Goals are the problem. Everton, their 33-year-old Brazilian forward, has not scored in his three games, and Odisha have managed two goals all season. TG Purushothaman, their coach, called tonight “a match for survival” and said his side would have to play that way.
NorthEast United, second on eight points, play Churchill Brothers in Goa at 5pm IST, so Mohun Bagan will know before kick-off exactly what a win is worth. Odisha, after the 5-1 in March, would probably settle for a point.