Leaders FCB Nyasa Bullets host Kamuzu Barracks (KB) FC in the TNM Super League this afternoon at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
There will be no love lost between the two sides whose matches for the past three seasons have been fully-charged.
In 2022, the first and second round ties ended in one-all draws in the league.
In 2023, the first round ended goalless at Civo Stadium, but Bullets collected full points in the second round after a 3-2 victory at Kamuzu Stadium.
It was the same story in 2024 when KB held Bullets 0-0 at home, but Bullets triumphed 1-0 in gthe reverse fixture.
Bullets coach Peter Mponda in a pre-match interview admitted that KB has always given them problems.
But the former Silver Strikers title-winning coach said this time it will not be the same story.
He said: “Yes, Kamuzu Barracks have been causing problems, but this is a different game and the guys are really looking forward for this game.”
The tactician seems to have done some homework about KB as he analysed their performance in their last match against Creck Sporting Club which ended goalless.
Said Mponda: “They put up a good show. They were fighting, but they are coming to Kamuzu Stadium where we have been dominating teams in terms of performance. We feel that since we are at home, we have to go there and dictate the rhythm of the game.”
Bullets, on the other hand, are coming from a victory over Chitipa United and Mponda said this is a big motivation for his players.
“We are happy with the way things are turning up; the guys are working hard. We were complaining about the performance.
“We are trying to improve the performance of the team. But after playing a couple of games and winning, slowly the confidence is coming up. We are happy the way things are going.”
But Mponda also warned against throwing caution to the wind against unpredictable KB.
He said: “The guys know that they haven’t won anything, so there’s no way they can start relaxing.”
KB will have to be at their best to snatch points at Kamuzu Stadium where they last won three years ago.
On his part, KB coach Nicholas Mhango said there was a lot of work to be done ahead of the match.
He said: “We didn’t play as a team against Creck. We were not passing, we were not playing with purpose. There was no way we could have won.”
Mhango suggested that this was because they did not have enough time to recover after playing last weekend.
He said: “We played on Saturday and on Wednesday we were back on the pitch.
“Now we are heading to Blantyre just after two days for another big match against Bullets.
“There won’t be time to recover, we will only have time for boardroom talk and not on the pitch.”
