Kolkata, Oct. 7 -- East Bengal FC will look to avenge last year's IFA Shield final defeat when they take on arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in another high-voltage Kolkata derby at the Salt Lake Stadium, here on Thursday.

The final will be the fifth meeting between the two sides this year and comes barely two months after East Bengal got the better of Mohun Bagan in the Durand Cup final, winning 4-1 to claim one of their biggest derby victories in recent years.

Mohun Bagan, however, have since won the Calcutta Football League to end an eight-year wait for the title and will be bidding to retain the Shield they won against East Bengal at the same venue last year.

The 2025 final ended 1-1 before Mohun Bagan prevailed 5-4 on penalties to lift the Shield for the 21st time.

East Bengal, the record 29-time champions, will now be aiming to reach the 30-title mark, while the Mariners are chasing their 22nd crown.

The rivalry has been evenly poised this year. The first derby, in the Indian Super League in May, ended 1-1, before Mohun Bagan won 1-0 in the Durand Cup opener in July. East Bengal then responded with their emphatic 4-1 victory in the Durand Cup final, while their latest meeting in the Calcutta Football League in September again ended 1-1.

East Bengal entered the Shield final on a high after producing a statement performance in the semi-finals, thrashing NorthEast United 7-2.

David Lalhlansanga scored a hat-trick, while Rohit Kumar, Chris Ikonomidis, Ake Loba and Lukas Zwolinski were also on target.

They had opened their campaign with a 3-1 win over Calcutta Customs before losing 0-1 to Punjab FC in the group stage.

Mohun Bagan have taken a more difficult route to the final.

They began with a 6-0 win over Sreenidi Deccan, Lallianzuala Chhangte scoring three, and drew 1-1 with NorthEast United to progress from the group.

The Mariners were then held goalless by Punjab FC over

120 minutes in the semi-final before goalkeeper Vishal Kaith made two saves in the shootout to secure a 4-3 victory.

The demanding schedule has emerged as a concern for both teams, particularly Mohun Bagan, who have several players returning from national duty after India's back-to-back friendlies against Brazil and Uruguay.

Manvir Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Apuia, Aniruddha Thapa and Abhishek Singh have joined the Mariners after national duty, having been involved in two high-intensity matches within 78 hours.

Mohun Bagan coach Panagiotis Dilmperis said his staff had been monitoring the workload of the players and would decide on their involvement only after assessing their freshness.

"Since last night, I and my assistants, especially the assistant coach, have been working on measuring the load of the footballers. They have played a lot of minutes in the Kolkata League, IFA Shield and for the national team," Dilmperis said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.