FCB Nyasa Big Bullets will have to be at their level best to get all the points when they visit Blue Eagles at Nankhaka Stadium on Sunday.
The defending champions are coming from back-to-back 1-all draws against Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Red Lions.
Had they won the two games, Bullets would have needed a point on Sunday to officially end an exciting title race, which has seen four teams battling for the championship from day one.
With four points dropped, the defending champions have to beat Eliya Kananji’s side in order to fend off pressure from Wanderers, who are not giving up until the final drop of their blood.
However, they are facing a side that is currently not safe from the relegation.
From their position (ninth) to the 14th position, one of the six teams can go down to join Extreme FC and Lions who, mathematically, are still in the race for survival, but it’s no longer in their hands due to the points accumulated and number of games played against the teams above.
Apart from the relegation battle, Eagles are also chasing for a Top Eight finish in order to take part in the Top Eight competition next season.
In the first round, Bullets without some key players who were with the Malawi National Football Team hammered their opponents 3-0 despite playing second fiddle to them.
But Sunday’s match is totally different from the previous matches where the two were just fighting for points rather than league positions and safety from the drop zone.
Kananji knows how important it is to beat Bullets and, at the same time, further dropping of points in the title race will pile more pressure on the defending champions who are the masters of producing wonders when it matters most.
In 2019, Bullets were in a similar situation when they had a one point lead over Wanderers, and their next two games were against Silver Strikers and Civil Service United away in Lilongwe.
Against all odds, Pasuwa’s charges bagged all the six points with hard-fought 1-0 victories over the Capital City giants, results that took them closer to retaining the championship and after 30 games, they indeed defended their title.
However, it will not be the case this time around as Kananji has vowed to make life very difficult for the People’s Team.
A win on Sunday for Bullets will see them opening up a four-point lead over Wanderers with a game in hand to play while Eagles can move up to 7th in the standings.
It’s a blockbuster match between last season’s runners-up against the seasoned winners.
