Nyasa Big Bullets head coach Kalisto Pasuwa has predicted a very tough fixture when Bullets visit Karonga United in a TNM Super League match on Saturday at Karonga Stadium.
The People’s Team will put their unbeaten start to the season at stake when they travel to Northern Region to take on a side which has been causing them problems in previous seasons.
While Bullets have won four out of five league matches played so far, their opponents are winless in the five matches they have played, a situation which will make Saturday’s match a very crucial one.
Pasuwa has cautioned his players not to underrate their opponents, insisting they are a very dangerous team who will want to give it a fight when they clash.
“To be honest with you, I think they are still a very dangerous team and any team in their position is wounded,” he told the club’s media department.
“It’s a game which won’t be easy for us. When we came here last time, we lost against them, a very good disciplined side where if you give them a room to play, they will play. It’s a team that has been losing and drawing games and for this reason, they will rise up to the occasion against us and we are mentally preparing our guys to not underestimate them just because they are on losing streak.”
“Like last time, we played Ekwendeni, Dedza Dynamos and Mafco but before playing them, I watched Mafco playing another team and they struggled but against us, they came very hard and this is exactly what Karonga United will do. They might be struggling but when they play us, they will give it all so we just need to be very careful so that by the end of the day, we collect three points,” he said.
The People’s Team have played two games away from home in which they have collected four points and the tactician believes away games are very crucial towards their title defence and his side needs to approach Karonga United with a winning mentality.
“Approaching Karonga United is like any other teams we play but we just need to do this with a winning mentality. We have been having problems at times when it comes to dealing with lateral balls coming into the box and we have been working out on it in order for us to do good in defending these high balls behind defence and we hope this time around we will do well and also make sure we capitalize on the chances we get just because mostly, when we are playing away, we miss so many chances then at the end of the day, we end up losing but we will do whatever it takes to claim all the points and maintain our good start to the season,” he concluded.
In other matches, Dedza Dynamos will travel to Blantyre to play Mighty Tigers at Mpira Stadium.
Both teams have had a very good start to the season, with Tigers beating Red Lions 2-0 whilst Dedza Dynamos forced Silver Strikers to a 1-1 draw at Silver Stadium.
Tigers are 6th in the standings with 9 points from six games whilst Dedza Dynamos are 7th with 8 points from five games.
At Mzuzu Stadium, Ekwendeni Hammers will be looking forward to another three points when they host Civil Service United.
The Mzuzu based side recorded a 2-1 victory over Rumphi United last week to move up to 5th position with nine points but their opponents have had a very difficult start to the season with just one win in five games.
Their win came over Sable Farming on the first day of the season when they defeated the Chiradzulu based side 2-0 but since then, the government sponsored team has struggled for points, latest being a 1-1 draw with Karonga United last week.
At Chitowe, Mafco FC will entertain Moyale Barracks in what is likely to be another exciting fixture to watch in the top flight football.
Both teams have been struggling for points but they registered big wins last weekend to move out of the bottom three.
They both registered big wins over TN Stars, with Moyale Barracks beating the Kasungu based side 4-3 before Marco’s 5-1 win days later.
A victory for either side will be a starting point to a season which seemed to be moving away from the military teams.
Blue Eagles lead the standings with 16 points from six games, seconded by Bullets who have 13 points from five games.
