Young Africans and Mbeya City have a chance to topple Azam from the summit of the table if they win their respective matches.
Dar es Salaam. The Vodacom Premier League enters round 19 this evening with enticing match-ups.
Young Africans and Mbeya City have a chance to topple Azam from the summit of the table if they win their respective matches.
The Jangwani Street giants welcome stubborn Ruvu Shooting at the National Stadium while Mbeya City, who are pressing to win the league in their first season, will be facing a tall order to take down Coastal Union at Mkwakwani Stadium.
Azam, who top the table with 36 points, just one above the duo, were to clash with Tanzania Prisons today, but their match was re-scheduled to tomorrow at the Chamazi Complex.
Should Yanga and City bag maximum points, Azam can still reclaim their top spot with a victory over Prisons who clobbered JKT Ruvu Stars 6-0 on Wednesday.
Azam will head into the match still bitter with their elimination from the CAF’s Confederation Cup at the hands of Ferroviario de Beira of Mozambique on Sunday. They lost 2-1 on aggregate.
The day will also see Kagera Sugar welcome relegation haunted Rhino Rangers of Tabora while Mtibwa Sugar will clash with Ashanti United at Manungu in Morogoro.
JKT Oljoro will play host to Mgambo JKT at Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in Arusha. Mgambo must be in high spirits after pulling off a 1-0 win over Simba SC last weekend.
The match expected to pull a big crowd, however, will be at the National Stadium where Yanga will be eying three points to put pressure on the leaders.
Ruvu Shooting have been a hard nut to crack for the defending champions in recent seasons, but would likely recall the spirit of last September when they won 1-0, thanks to Mrisho Ngassa’s lone goal.
For Yanga assistant head coach Boniface Mkwasa, this will be his first match against the team he ‘abandoned’ a few months ago in favour of the Jangwani outfit.
The army side now coached by Kenyan Tom Olaba will be out to prove a point and the coach has already sounded a warning to Yanga not to expect an easy victory.
“The team has changed a lot and we have posted good results since the beginning of the second round, so we want to build on what we have so far achieved.
“It is a big match because we are playing the champions, but Ruvu Shooting are ready for the challenge and for sure we will give them a run for their money,” said Olaba who spent years training Mtibwa Sugar.
He added: “My players are in the right frame of mind, we don’t have injuries to fear, so I am looking forward to a good match.”
Yanga coach Hans Van Pluijm, who recently guided his side to a 12-2 aggregate win over Comorozine de Domoni in the African Champions League, said they will play an attacking game today. The Dutchman said there was no room for error at this stage of the season if Yanga are to march on to the title.
“We want to defend our title, so we can’t afford to underrate some teams; we just have to go out and score goals because that is the best way to win matches.
“There is no room for error at this stage because every team is fighting to either win the title or stay in the premiership,” said the former Chelsea Berekum coach.
The biggest attraction in today’s encounter will be Emmanuel Okwi who is expected to be handed playtime after being cleared by Fifa to feature for Yanga.
Yanga may opt to start with Okwi, Ngassa and Didier Kavumbagu upfront- the partnership that will definitely give Shooting a torrid time.
