Nyasa Big Bullets will be looking to put more distance between themselves and the chasing pack when they travel to Lilongwe to take on Kamuzu Barracks in a TNM Super League match at Civo Stadium on Sunday.
The reigning champions remain one of the two unbeaten sides in the top flight league after 13 matches and opened up a six-point gap to second placed Blue Eagles with an emphatic 5-0 demolition of Mighty Tigers last time out.
And on Saturday, Eagles stumbled again after a 1-1 draw with Ekwendeni Hammers, reducing the gap to five but with a game more than the defending champions who can open an 8-point gap with a win at KB.
The People’s Team have had eleven victories in the current season, with their only draws coming away from home against Blue Eagles and Karonga United.
Now, playing at Civo Stadium against a side which is also currently doing well will be the ultimate test for Kalisto Pasuwa’s side which is aiming to finish the first round unbeaten in their quest to defend the title they won last season.
But they have to do more. The ‘Chiwoko Boys’ will go into this match with one mission; to became the first team to defeat Bullets, a team which is undeniably in the top form.
Charles Kamanga’s side has registered three draws in a row and they would want to bounce back from this slumber with a win over the log leaders.
Last season, Bullets scored three goals each in the two matches they played but in 2019, they shared three points a piece, with KB winning the first round 2-1 before losing 2-0 in the reverse fixture at Kamuzu Stadium.
It will be an interesting match to watch, with Pasuwa warning his charges to up their game if they are to collect maximum points.
Despite their strong start to the season, Pasuwa is refusing to look too far ahead as the Blantyre based outfit chase a fourth straight domestic title.
“You can never ever count your chickens before they hatch in football, we take it one game at a time, and we prepare for the games to play and win,” he said.
He was also quick to warn his charges to anticipate a tough outing against the 2016 league winners.
“Every team that plays against Bullets they bring their A game, they are intrinsically motivated to give their best for many reasons, and ours is always to make sure that we give evrry match that we are playing the respect that it requires. We work very hard in making sure that we do not give them time to think and maybe exploit some of our areas of weakness, and the intensity of our game is always expected to be very high because of our game model,” he added.
The defending champions have only conceded six goals, scoring 27 and their highest win of the season so far was a 5-0 victory over Tigers.
On the other hand, KB were forced to come from behind as they drew 1-1 with Sable Farming last week.
The Capital City Soldiers started the season on a very high note, registering victories wherever they played but a defeat and two back to back draws have seen them dropping to fifth position with 20 points, 15 behind their Sunday’s opponents and the only way to revive their title ambitions is to collect three points over Bullets.
The military side has scored 14 goals and conceded 11 in the 12 games played so far this season.
They lost 3-0 to Silver Strikers before playing out to a goalless draw with Blue Eagles. They then played to another draw against Sable after they came from behind to cancel out a Christopher Gototo’s early strike in the match.
