It will be a confrontation between two top teams in the current season, with Nyasa Big Bullets enjoying a good season, which makes this game a potential cracker.
Silver Strikers and Nyasa Big Bullets resume their bid for FDH Bank Knockout Cup glory when they clash in a quarterfinal match at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe on Wednesday afternoon.
Three semifinal spots were decided last week, with the Wednesday encounter taking place belatedly due to Bullets’ CECAFA Kagame Cup participation from which they finished as runners up after going down 1-0 to Uganda’s Express FC.
This fixture takes place just after two weeks since Bullets defeated the Central Bankers 2-1 in a league match before departing for Tanzania.
It also comes at a time Silver are passing through a rough patch as they have seen their form dropping in an unexpected manner.
However, Silver Strikers have had an edge over Bullets in as far as Cup competitions are concerned.
Twice, the Central Bankers have knocked out the Champions in the quarterfinal of both Airtel Top Eight Cup and Fisd Cup.
In 2019, The People’s team lost 4-3 to Silver Strikers in a Fisd Cup through post-match penalties. In 2017, the Bankers were 1-0 winners over the Blantyre based side in the Airtel Top Eight Cup.
Over the past four years, the Lilongwe based side have won two cups whilst Bullets’ cup success came way back in 2017 when they lifted Carlsberg Cup after overcoming Be Forward Wanderers FC.
However, Wednesday’s match will not be easy to both teams.
The Central Bankers’ Assistant Coach MacDonald Yobe anticipates a tough match against their opponents but says his side will try to capitalize the home ground advantage.
“It won’t be easy against Bullets considering the fact that they did well at CECAFA tournament and they will come out with full force in order to prove a point but we will be at our Stadium and we will do whatever it takes to capitalize so that by the end of the day, we sail through to the semifinals of this prestigious competition. Our players are ready and they know how important this match is to them so we are looking forward to the game on Wednesday,” he said.
On Bullets’ part, Head Coach Kalisto Pasuwa said playing Silver Strikers away from home has never been easy for his boys but he is adamant of getting out of the Stadium unscathed.
“Not an easy fixture for my boys especially playing them away from home but we will try our level best to win the match. We haven’t been doing well against Silver Strikers in Cup games and it’s now the time to break the curse and proceed to the semis,” he explained.
Bullets arrive at Silver Stadium riding on some good form in the CECAFA Cup as well as the Super League.
The People’s Team have had more victories in the league than any other side hence moving top of the standings to leapfrog the Bankers.
At the other end, the Area 47 based side are not in a good form but they will go flat out to prove their doubters wrong and to revive their season which is falling by each passing minute.
They go into Wednesday’s encounter fresh from a Super League defeat to Mighty Tigers in Blantyre.
Unlike Bullets, the Area 47 side have one win in the Super League, a sign that things are not working for them in the last half of the championship battle.
In their passage to the quarterfinal, the Bankers defeated Moyale Barracks 2-0 whilst Bullets registered a similar result over Tigers.
Both teams have no injury concerns ahead of the encounter.
Wanderers are already waiting to meet Wednesday’s winner in the semifinal.
