FCB Nyasa Bullets coach Peter Mponda says rivals Mighty Wanderers and defending champions Silver Strikers are favourites to claim the 2025 TNM Super League.
Speaking during a pre-match press briefing ahead of Bullets’ match against Kamzuzu Barracks at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, he said the two have what it takes to win the league championship.
Said Mponda: “I would say that the Silver Strikers are hot favourites. They won the league, their team is intact, they even added some good players.
“Whereas [Mighty Wanderers’] Bob Mpinganjira, who came second, also has got an intact team.
“He was there. The players are used to his style, whereas here most of the players left and as a new coach, players have to adjust to the way we want them to play. So, those two, I would say those two are the favourites.”
However, Mponda, who steered Silver to last season’s title, was quick to say he is happy that Bullets are leading on the table with 15 points and have a chance to extend it to 18 points if they defeat Kamuzu Barracks.
He said: “We’re happy with the way things are turning up. As of now, we are looking at ourselves. It’s in our hands. We are trying to control our performance.
“We are trying to control the results. We don’t mind who is coming, who is behind us.
“The most important thing we want is just to mind our business and play our games.”
But football analyst Charles Nyirenda in an interview said Mponda, who dumped Silver at the beginning of this season, was playing mind games.
He said: “May be if he had said Bullets, Wanderers and Silver are favourites, I would have agreed.
“But he is leaving his team outside the favourites, making it a two-horse race which I don’t buy it.”
Bullets are unbeaten in five matches while second-placed Wanderers, who have a game in hand, are tied at 12 points with Ekhaya FC on third.
The Nomads host eighth-placed Silver, who also have a game in hand, at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday.
The defending champions have seven points from one loss, two wins and a draw.
In the 2024 season, Wanderers were runners-up while Bullets finished third.
