Fresh from their Kalinga Super Cup triumph, East Bengal will want to buck the trend in ISL also, when they face arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

Ever since Indian football’s two widely followed clubs joined the ISL, East Bengal have not won in the six matches played so far. It has been a one-way traffic for Mohun Bagan Super Giant, earlier known as ATK Mohun Bagan. But this season the red-and-gold brigade tasted wins twice — the Kalinga Super Cup group stage win being just two weeks back. And there is a chance of one more on Saturday.

Spanish coach Carles Cuadrat refused to wear the favourites tag but asserted for the first time in more than four years that East Bengal will look eye-to-eye with their Bagan counterparts in an ISL derby.

“We can lose, there could be a draw and we could win also. It has never been like this. Bagan have always enjoyed the upper hand. But now our players can throw them a challenge on the pitch. Our fans can also say ‘hey we have won also a trophy’,” Cuadrat said on Friday.

How a trophy triumph in more than 11 years changes the entire dynamics was made clear when nearly 90 media personnel turned up for the pre-match news conference.

East Bengal, with their tail up, are ready to pounce on their rivals whose expensive-assembled side seemed to have lost steam in the last two months. In the points table though Bagan are fifth-placed (19 from 10 matches) while East Bengal are eighth (11 points from 10). “We have just two wins. If Bagan triumph tomorrow, they will be 11 points ahead of us,” Cuadrat cautioned.

Bagan, at point in time, were unbeaten in seven matches, but three consecutive losses before ISL-X took the break for India’s AFC Asian Cup campaign saw the management pressing the panic button.

Spanish coach Juan Ferrando lost his job and in came compatriot Antonio Lopez Habas. The 66-year-old knows Indian football inside out and on Friday he pointed out that under him Bagan have never lost a match against East Bengal.

“I have never lost. Let me be clear about that,” Habas said. “And I agree with Cuadrat that in a derby clash there are no favourites,” he added.

Habas, for whom the derby will be his first day in the dug-out, knows that the momentum is now with East Bengal but he harped on the fact that Bagan were without a glut of key players who were either busy with the national team commitments or recovering from injuries. Nearly all will be on the field on Saturday but the most significant will be Anwar Ali’s return after more than three months.

The 23-year-old defender suffered an ankle injury on October 24 during an AFC Cup match and his absence proved costly for Bagan as the defence looked brittle. During that phase they conceded five goals against Odisha FC in an AFC Cup home match and struggled in the ISL. “He is 100 per cent fit,” Habas said.

Right back Asish Rai though would be out with injury and Liston Colaco is serving a four-match ban for his petulance during the match against Mumbai City on December 20.

East Bengal will be missing doughty midfielder Souvik Chakraborty who got a red card in the Super Cup final against Odisha FC last Sunday. “He is an important member of the team and the onus will be on others to step up,” Cuadrat said.

East Bengal will be banking on Brazilian striker and captain Cleiton Silva for the goals. His strike in the extra time ended East Bengal’s national-level title drought in Bhubaneswar and fans hope that one more is coming on Saturday.

“I love playing in these kinds of matches. When you have 30,000 people cheering for you at just the warm-up, what extra motivation do you need” he said. A warning for sure.