FKFPL: Bandari out to preserve impressive home record against AFC Leopards

Two Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) matches are on the offing on Friday 19 February with Bandari hoping to make it four games unbeaten at Mbaraki Stadium against AFC Leopards.

Bandari vs AFC Leopards

Mombasa based Bandari FC welcome an AFC Leopards side that has been rocked by player demonstrations during the week in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) clash at Mbaraki Grounds.

Bandari, who currently sit seventh on the log on 16 points, find themselves with a perfect opportunity to steal points away from Leopards who sit fifth, just three points ahead of them. The Dockers will be buoyed by their hard-fought 1-0 away win in Nairobi against Kariobangi Sharks and will be looking to build up on that positive result. Consistency has been the major undoing for Andre Cassa Mbungo’s boys as they have had mixed results in the last three games; a draw, a defeat and a win respectively.

In their last three encounters at home against Leopards, Bandari have never tasted defeat and they will certainly be hoping to extend that positive run against their opponents. They will however be missing the services of right-back Atariza Amai who is serving a one-match suspension after accumulating five yellow cards this season.

AFC Leopards on the other hand will be hoping to turn around the cloudy atmosphere that has engulfed the club during this week. Reports of players downing their tools in protest of unpaid salaries have rocked the smooth operations of the club, something that will worry new head coach Patrick Aussems as he takes charge of his first game in the league.

Prior to those events, Leopards were on a four-match unbeaten streak with only one draw that came against Gor Mahia in the Mashemeji Derby. They will however be reliant on top marksman Elvis Rupia, who scored his second hat trick of the season in the FKF Cup against Tikki FC, to continue with his fine showing in front of goal as they have struggled when the December player of the month does not score. With a win, AFC Leopards are guaranteed to jump up to the third position on the log, enough motivation to calm the turbulent week they have had.

Ulinzi Stars vs Sofapaka

Ulinzi Stars play hosts at the Green Stadium when they take on Sofapaka in Kericho.

Having drawn eight games, out of a possible eleven, with six of them ending in 0-0 draws, Ulinzi head coach Benjamin Nyangweso feels like the biggest problem, which has been scoring goals, will not prove to be a problem as the last two games have shown they can score. Two goals against Western Stima in the league and five in the cup competition against Elim looks like a corner taken in the right direction in terms of the goal drought.

“We scored twice in our last league match, and five in the cup game, though against a lower-ranked team. Scoring goals is all about confidence and I hope the last two matches give us the confidence we need in attack. I’ve also seen a lot of positivity in training; the players are burning to end this bad (scoring) run and I’m happy at that. I’m confident the goals are coming but I want to see us go even harder in attack because we are creating enough chances,” noted Nyangweso.

Batoto ba Mungu, on the other hand, come into the game without a defeat in their last three games; winning two and drawing one, something that head coach Ken Odhiambo is determined to turn into back to back wins for the first time this season for his side.

“We haven’t had consecutive wins since the league started, it’s been a concern for us and we only want to make it count moving forward. We bounced back to winning ways against Zoo Kericho and we want to make it two out of two beginning Friday,” noted the head coach.

Ulinzi and Sofapaka are both tied on 14 points which makes for an even interesting battle when the two face off with each other.

“We are facing a tough side, they Ulinzi, have been playing well at home and thus we expecting a tough duel tomorrow, it won’t be an easy match but we are ready,” said Ken.

Sofapaka will welcome back the services of Lawrence Juma who has been in imperious form this season, scoring a club-high five goals. Juma missed the cup competition after a bout of illness but is ready for the match. They will however miss the services of Kepha Aswani due to illness.

Both matches kickoff at 1500EAT.