Mighty Wanderers’ Wisdom Mpinganjira, Silver Strikers’ Festus Duwe as well as FCB Nyasa Bullets duo of Chikumbutso Salima and Wongani Lungu have been tipped as favourites for the 2025 Player of the Season Award.
Though just nine weeks into the 2025 TNM Super League season, the four players have dominated the top flight league at their respective clubs.
Salima also tops assists chart at five assists, teammate Wongani Lungu has four while Mpinganjira is trailing at three.
The winger also leads in player of the match awards, having won three in matches against Creck Sporting Club, PremierBet Dedza Dynamos and Chitipa United.
Mpinganjira on the other hand has two players of the match accolades in matches against Mighty Tigers and Bleu Eagles.
The two midfielders are also stepping up the battel for the golden boot as they are just a goal shy from top scorer Babatunde Adepoju and Zeliat Nkhoma who tie at five goals.
Duwe boasts of one player of the match accolade against Chitipa United, owing to the Bankers poor start to the season.
He has also scored some crucial goals for Silver.
He netted a brace against Chitipa as well as the second goal in the recent Capital City derby which Silver won 2-0.
The midfielder has been on fire in Airtel Top 8, bagging player of match accolade twice in quarter-finals first and second legs against Moyale Barracks.
Duwe scored in the 1-0 victory in the first leg before following it up with a brace in the 3-0 victory over the Malawi Defence Force side in the second leg.
Lungu was named player of the match once, has netted four goals and four assists claim a spot among favourites for the player of the season accolade.
Football analyst Raymond Siyaya feels one of the four will carry the day if they remain consistent.
He said: “I would put my money on Wisdom Mpinganjira for Wanderers. Already, he has three goals in his bag. His movement, passing, and positioning always portend danger.
“He provides cutting edge and is the driving force for Wanderers’ attacks with player of the match performances.
“Festus Duwe for Silver Strikers is a phenomenon. A game changer from the bench and a goal poacher, who is ruthless in the box and so far, has already made headlining performances for Silver as he has proven to be a big game player.”
On his part Twaha Chimuka agreed with Siyaya that Duwe, Lungu and Mpinganjira are players to watch out for in the 2025 season.
He said: “Wongani Lungu is indeed the architect of Bullets attack. If you at Bullets’ movement you will note that all the attacks start with him.
“For Wanderers, it’s Wisdom who has the energy to drive the team forward. Every time he has the ball you know that something is going to happen.
“It’s the same story with Duwe. The Bankers are trying to move away from depending on Chimwemwe Idana.
“All attacks are originating from Duwe. He is the driving force behind Silver’s attack. He can play as number 10. He is very good on the ball. He can dribble, he can pass, and he can shoot.
“The other teams don’t have such players that are standing out to and can fight for the player of the season award.”
Despite Salima standing out in terms of assists, goals and player of the match accolades, both Siyaya and Chimuka were skeptical on the player’s fitness levels.
“Salima has been consistent in terms of performance, but the challenge is that he is prone to injuries. I think he has not fully recovered from his injuries and Bullets need to manage him properly if he is to last the whole season. This means they have to use him sparingly. He should not play week in week out, because if that happens he may end up getting another injury,” said Chimuka.
On his part, Siyaya felt Lungu has a better chance of surviving the whole season because of his fitness and of fitting in the People’s Team style in less than two seasons.
He said: “For Bullets, Lungu is shaping and morphing into a beautiful replacement of Patrick Mwaungulu. His close ball control and dynamism with the ball are exceptional within the area.
“He also can score goals and create goals from pockets of space. At the rate he is going, he is bound to be the top goal scorer.”
“Lungu came in from the outside and not within the ranks and fold like Salima who came from Bullets Reserves. But he has hit the ground and run and fitted within the team with starring performances for the Flames as well.”
Bullets lead the TNM Super League log table with 18 points while the Nomads are second, just two points below the People Team but with a game in hand.
Defending champions Silver are seventh with 11 points.
