FCB Nyasa Bullets will be hoping to collect maximum points against Civil Service United at their backyard Civo Stadium for the first time in three seasons.
The Civil Servants have frustrated Bullets whenever they play at home, the fortress Civo Stadium.
The past three meetings at Civo Stadium between the two sides have ended in draws.
Bullets head coach Peter Mponda in a pre-match interview said Lilongwe has always been a tough place to play.
“It’s not just Civil. Every team raises their game when they play Bullets. Lilongwe is always a tough place to go to. In the last two years, we haven’t collected maximum points there.
“But the boys are showing good signs. They want to win this one. A victory is important for us and the way the players are training gives us a positive feeling.”
Bullets lead the TNM Super League table with a just a point separating them with second-placed cross-city rivals Mighty Wanderers, who play Ekhaya FC tomorrow.
But Mponda said they are not looking at what is happening with other clubs.
He said: “We have always said it. If we want to win the championship, we can’t rely on other teams. Yes, we are going to Lilongwe to win. But this game won’t decide the title. There are still many matches left. That said, our target is to get three points and the players are motivated to do that.
“Wongani Lungu didn’t train for two days and is facing late fitness tests. The doctors are still assessing him. Apart from those three, all the players are training well and competition for places in high.”
His counterpart Abbas Makawa will be hoping to maintain the record on denying Bullets full points.
Civil are in a bad place in the first round as they lie 14th on the table with 10 points from 10 matches, having won just two matches, drawn four and lost four as well.
Makawa said they expect another tough game against Bullets.
He said: “It will be a tough one. But we want to collect maximum points as well.”
