Another local derby for the Pensioners as they visit Army sponsored side, Green Buffalos FC in a match week-12 of the MTN Super League today.
Coming from recording a loss in their last match played against Zanaco FC, the Perry Mutapa Coached side has everything to fight for in this match to return in their top four position.
The coach has also made mention of how crucial it is for his side to collect maximum points in the remaining matches of the first half, starting with today’s match, to see them defend their ABSA Cup trophy.
The ABSA Cup champions currently sit eighth on the log with 16 points from the 11 games played. GBFC on the other hand, are two places ahead of NAPSA Stars with a point better.
This is one interesting match looking at how the two coaches in Perry Mutapa and Masauso Tembo will be facing each other after years of working alongside each other as Head Coach and First assistant respectively.
But Coach Perry has indicated that despite both coaches being fully aware of each other’s tactics, tomorrow’s game will be different.
He adds that he has a dynamic technical bench that plans differently for each match.
“Very crucial game, we have only picked up on point from the last two matches, so we need this game. It will be very disappointing to lose out on the ABSA Cup qualification as defending champions if the team will not finish the first half in top six so we have to push starting from this match,” Coach Perry adds.
Coach Perry was speaking during his pre-match press conference held via zoom with the media saying being a local derby, he does not expect an easy match but his boys will be up to the task.
MATCH OVERVIEW AND TEAM FORM
Coming to this match, the Pensioners have struggled to pick up maximum points on the road, and will be hoping to register their first away win.
NAPSA Stars have also struggled to pick up maximum points in their last two matches, recording a draw against Buildcon and a loss to Zanaco.
Green Buffalos on the other hand have managed to record two straight victories in their last two matches beating Green Eagles and Power Dynamos FC in their week 10 and week-11 matches respectively.
But the opponents’ form will not worry Perry Mutapa and his side, with the coach indicating that his team is fully focused on collecting maximum points tomorrow looking at how crucial the fixtures are.
The coach has also expressed concern in his team’s inconsistency in scoring in every match, but also quick to add that the technical bench has been working and encouraging the boys on this.
NAPSA Stars has four victories, four draws and three losing coming into this match, while GBFC has recorded four victories, five draws and two losses.
TEAM NEWS
Coach Perry Mutapa has indicated that he’s still not sure if he will feature Austin Banda in this match after the player’s recovery. Simon Nkhta is no exception after suffering from injury for close to three weeks.
The coach has also confirmed that he will be without the service of Boster Siyoma who picked up an injury in the last match played against Zanaco.
And NAPSA Stars will be without the services of Leonard Mulenga and Fredrick Mwimanzi who are on loan at the Club from Green Buffaloes FC and are not allowed to play against their parent club.
HEAD-TO HEAD
The last time these two teams met was in the ABSA Cup competition when NAPSA Stars was playing in the National Division One league. NAPSA Stars beat GBFC in this match to progress to the semi-final round.
In the league, the two teams won a game each in the first and second half of the 2020/201 soccer season.
HOW TO WATCH THIS MATCH?
The match will be played at Edwin Imboela Stadium in Lusaka. You can follow the updates on both NAPSA Stars and Green Buffalos official social media pages.