Mathare welcome Tusker as Gor wait to pounce

Leaders Tusker FC head to the clash of the weekend when they visit Mathare United on Saturday wary another slip up will open the door for champions Gor Mahia FC to take over at the summit as the Kenyan Premier League title race enters its homestretch.

Relegation-battling Thika United blew the title charge open when they stunned Paul Nkata’s side 2-0 in Machakos to see their five-point gap at the top over K’Ogalo eroded to just two after a run of three without victory.

Mathare who surrendered the lead at the top to Tusker are also on a wretched sequence having gone four without victory and on Wednesday, fell victim to a late sucker punch from Kakamega Homeboyz in a 2-1 reverse.

It sets up the prospect of a cagey encounter at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani contrasting sharply with the riveting 2-2 first leg draw they shared on April 28 in Machakos.

All the goals came in the first half before the teams retreated to their defensive shells in the second and that is what is likely to recur since the stakes are much higher besides the sagging confidence owing to recent results.

Tusker are on top on 37 with 10 rounds of the 2016 KPL to go with Francis Kimanzi’s Slum Boys trailing by six and in much need of a huge result to jump start their title charge in a competition where no team among the top four has hit trophy winning gear yet.

The Brewer’s captain, James Situma defended his team following their damaging 2-0 loss to Thika that sunk hopes of extending their lead at the top.

“We are into the home stretch and at this point every team is doing its best not to lose a point. So we went to the game expecting any result and this is happening with all the teams in the KPL at the moment. No team is maintaining a clean sheet of wins,” the skipper added.

Situma praised Thika for their fine display as he rallied his troops to fashion a response against Mathare United.

“The game displayed by them in the first half was majestic and I cannot attribute our loss to questionable refereeing decisions since it was 90 percent fair. It was our own slow start that caused us the loss,” he decried.

K’Ogalo on 35 welcome Bandari to their spiritual home in Kisumu on Sunday and are hoping their title-rivals cancel out each other in Machakos or a result that favours Mathare to give them the opportunity to officially scale to the summit for the first time this season.

It has been a case of so near yet so far for Marcelo ‘Ze Maria’ Ferreira’s side who finished the first leg on top before they were docked three points as punishment for a hooliganism incident in their ill-tempered clash against Tusker.

Since then, the champions have drawn thrice in four spurning the chance to be clear of the stuttering table-toppers and the pressure on Sunday will be either to finally edge ahead or keep in touch in case Tusker win.

Ulinzi Stars who are third on 32 will resume their slow-burning title challenge after returning from the East Africa Military Games having blown the opportunity to trim the gap at the top to three when they conceded late in a 1-1 draw at Muhoroni Youth.

At the bottom, it will be the proverbial six-pointer when bottom placed Sofapaka FC host the side directly above them, Nairobi City Stars (13) with victory for the 2009 champions bridging the gap to only a point.

Both clubs however, have all to do to catch up with Ushuru FC who are hovering above the relegation zone on 22 points ahead of their trip to take on AFC Leopards who are blowing hot and cold this season at the Mumias Sports Complex.

Additional reporting by Mutwiri Mutuota

FIXTURES AND TV SCHEDULE

SAT

14:00 AFC Leopards vs Ushuru- Mumias Complex/SS9

15:00 Western Stima vs SonySugar- Afraha Stadium

16:15 Mathare United vs Tusker-Kasarani Stadium/SS9

SUN

14:00  Gor Mahia vs Bandari- Moi Stadium/SS9

15:00  Sofapaka vs City Stars- Machakos Stadium

Thika United vs KK Homeboyz-Ruaraka

15:00  Chemelil Sugar vs Muhoroni Youth-Chemelil Stadium