Sunday is set to witness a ‘big’ match that incidentally has lost some of its bigness to the circumstances.

East Bengal and Mohun Bagan face each other in an I-League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. It’s a Derby that has continued to be the darling of football lovers of this city and beyond.

But this time, somehow, the ‘big’ match seems to have shrunk in size a bit. Why? First of all, because the match will not feature two of the biggest names of the two teams.

There will be no Sony Norde and Enrique Esqueda on the Derby day. While injured Esqueda’s absence was not unknown, that Sony too will have to sit out the high-on-adrenaline clash was only confirmed on Saturday morning.

There were doubts about the Haitian’s availability and that was the first question asked to Bagan coach Shankarlal Chakraborty at Saturday’s pre-match media conference. “No, Sony will not be in our 18-member squad on Sunday.

“It is not possible to play him as the doctor has advised so. He needs at least two weeks to recover from his hamstring injury,” Shankarlal, who always has bagfuls of calmness to deal with crisis situations, said.

The coaches, players and team managements will always say that it is a team game and a certain player’s absence is never the end of the world. However, that’s just the theoretical part. Reality is that when a player of the calibre of Sony is ruled out of a match of such stature, it tends to unsettle teams.

It remains to be seen if Bagan can overcome this loss.

Similarly, East Bengal’s Mexican forward Esqueda looked by far the best goal-getter of the team and his absence will affect coach Alejandro Garcia’s plans.

These missing names apart, it is a fact that East Bengal and Bagan have been strugglers so far this season. Both the teams have nine points after six matches. Alejandro’s men are placed seventh with a goal difference of plus three, while Bagan are eighth having scored and conceded seven goals each.

Current leaders Chennai City FC have 17 points from seven matches.

So, it’s basically a match between the seventh and eighth-ranked sides of the 11-team league. It’s more a battle of survival in disguise of a Derby.

Form-wise, East Bengal should have the mental edge having won their last match. While the red and gold brigade outplayed Gokulam Kerala FC 3-1 in their last game, Bagan, despite quite a dominating performance, were held 1-1 by Chennai City.

However, as is often the case with a Derby, the plots and subplots overlap each other to form a complicated mesh that somehow balances the equation. So, while East Bengal come into the match on the back of a slightly better record, it’s Bagan who have the better arsenal for the battle.

In Henry Kisseka and Dipanda Dicka, Bagan have a better forward line than their arch-rivals who, after Esqueda’s omission, will have to depend heavily on Joby Justin for goals.

Also key will be Bagan midfielders Yuta Kinowaki, Omar Elhusseiny and Sourav Das, who are capable of playing.

Many a time in the past, this particular match has mocked predictions and defied logic. One can only hope something similar is on the cards on Sunday.