On Saturday, a virtual title decider in India’s national domestic football league, the I-league, will see Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan face less-fancied Aizawl FC in the capital of Mizoram.

Heading into this penultimate match of the season, both teams are locked on 33 points with MB ahead only on head-to-head basis - which too is contingent on the upcoming contest.

A win for MB sees the trophy head to Kolkata for the second time in three years, while a win by two or more goals for AFC will see them complete an astonishing fairy tale. Any other result keeps us waiting until next week.

A contest between the best two teams in the league, featuring some of the best-performing players, will be full of key battles all over the pitch. Here are a few that could prove to be decisive.

Ashutosh Mehta (AFC) vs Sony Norde (MB)

Haitian winger Sony Norde is Bagan’s most valuable asset and also the man AFC must watch out for. He has once again proved himself to be the most impactful player in the I-league though his presence does represent an opportunity for the opposition too.

With Norde on the field, MB tend to channel a large proportion of their attacks through the left wing, which he mans. Shackle him and you are three-fourths towards completely disarming the Kolkata club. Bagan have won the three matches that Norde has missed this season, including against AFC in Kolkata even if it took a late penalty to settle a five-goal game. But the Kolkata side has played four goalless draws on the road with the Haitian in the side, proving that it certainly isn’t impossible to stop him.

DSK Shivajians right back Nirmal Chhetri, for instance, stifled him successfully in a goalless draw in Pune, while wingers Thoi Singh of Mumbai FC, in a 0-0 draw, and Chesterpaul Lyngdoh of Churchill Brothers, in a 2-1 win for the Goan club, outshone Norde on the same wing to give Bagan headaches.

On song, though, and with space to run into, Norde will be decisive. MB’s only two away wins this season, in Chennai and Ludhiana, have come via two Norde winners: both of them late in the game, on the counter attack and one-on-one versus the goalkeeper—a cardinal sin committed by the opposition. Besides these, Norde’s dynamic home displays took Minerva Punjab (MPFC) and Bengaluru FC (BFC) to the cleaners, while a fabulous free-kick goal in the win over East Bengal provided a timely boost in the title run-in.

Right back Ashutosh Mehta will likely be the man responsible to keep Norde in check, alongside AFC’s midfielders who will provide cover. While Mehta, who has started in 11 matches and featured in all but one match, is usually a robust defender, he is prone to making mistakes. It was his soft foul on Katsumi Yusa which conceded the late penalty in the earlier fixture between the two clubs while in a recent match, 17-year-old forward Baoringdao Bodo caused havoc from his flank. This will be the key contest.

Kingsley Obumneme (AFC) vs Darryl Duffy (MB)

A battle of foreigners that’ll be intriguing to watch. Kingsley Obumneme, the Nigerian centre back who has marshalled AFC’s defence throughout the campaign, will be the key to thwarting Scottish forward Darryl Duffy, MB’s topscorer with seven goals who has featured in every starting XI this season.

Duffy’s aerial prowess is well known but his link-up play is sound too, which makes Kingsley’s task in managing him a difficult job. The Scot scored a headed goal, along with a penalty winner, the last time these two sides had met. Although he’s scored only once in the last nine league games, and had missed a sitter in MB’s last match, Duffy’s threat cannot be ignored.

Obumneme, on the other hand, will be vital to an AFC side which has looked increasingly susceptible on set pieces and aerial attacks. He has started in all but one match, which he missed due to suspension. Although AFC registered a 2-2 draw in that particular game against MPFC, it was quite a lucky escape: in no other game this season had the club been dominated more, reaffirming the defender’s importance to the team.

Laldanmawia Ralte (AFC) vs Raju Gaikwad (MB)

If the Norde-Mehta battle on AFC’s right will grab a lot of attention, another going on in the opposite direction could prove to be quietly decisive. Raju Gaikwad at left back is the Kolkata club’s weakest link in defence. He is a utility player who has been starting games because Subhasish Bose, MB’s young forward-thinking left back, is injured. Bose’s absence has further limited Norde’s threat in recent games.

This is a shortcoming which could be exploited by Laldanmawia Ralte, also known as Danmawia, who has scored three vital goals for AFC this season darting in from the right flank. His goals have accounted for wins over EB in Aizawl and DSK in Pune, while another goal settled the club’s last match against Churchill. Danmawia nearly found himself in a scoring position in the defeat to Bengaluru too, making a typical diagonal run through the centre, only to be thwarted by an incorrect offside call.

Jayesh Rane (AFC) vs Katsumi Yusa (MB)

Two all-action midfielders will clash in the middle of the park. MB’s inspirational Japanese captain Katsumi Yusa, who has played every minute of the club’s I-league season, will lock horns with Jayesh Rane, who too has featured in all starting XIs and missed only around 20 minutes of AFC’s campaign.

Yusa might play on the right wing, as he has done for most of the season, or in the centre, as he did in the previous game but he is bound to run into Rane, an energetic player who pops up all over the park. Rane is a winger by trade but he has put in some stellar central midfield performances this season.

Both of these bustling players are the engine rooms of their respective teams and have chipped in with goals too: Yusa’s three versus Rane’s two. A heavyweight battle for midfield dominance is likely.

Albino Gomes (AFC) vs Debjit Majumder (MB)

Unsurprisingly, this top-of-the-table clash will witness the two best goalkeepers in the I-league. Both Albino Gomes, the Goa-born custodian in his first season in Aizawl, and Debjit Majumder, a seasoned professional with MB, have been in spectacular form. They’ve earned their respective clubs precious points this season.

Early on in the campaign, Gomes saved penalties from Shillong Lajong’s Fabio Pena and BFC forward Sunil Chhetri to become an instant hero and followed it up with match-saving displays against MPFC in Ludhiana and DSK in Pune. Majumder, on the other hand, has bailed Bagan out on several occasions, especially in away games such as in Chennai, Pune and Mumbai.

He’s frequently kept a below-par MB in the match. Majumder has mastered the art of one-on-one saves and is brilliant in collecting crosses, making Aizawl’s task of scoring two or more goals on Saturday an extremely challenging one.

Akarsh Sharma is a sports traveller & writer who contributes to various publications. His work is collated on akarshsharma.com and he occasionally tweets here.