We conclude our Central Region tour in the TNM Super League on Wednesday afternoon at Civo Stadium with a midweek fixture against Civil Service United.
With our maximum points from the remaining four games at 57 points, the least we can fight for is the second position in the standings.
For Kalisto Pasuwa’s men to achieve this, winning all the remaining games and hoping that the second-placed Mighty Mukuru Wanderers slump along the way is a must. With 53 points, the Nomads remain with four matches to wrap up the campaign.
On Wednesday, The People’s Team will play against a formidable side, which is also fighting for a top-four finish this term.
The last time we beat Civil in their backyard was in the first round of the 2022 season when Babatunde Adepoju scored the only goal to inspire us to a hard-fought 1-0 victory against The Servants
FORM GUIDE
We are currently unbeaten in our last 14 matches across all competitions but with many draws in the league. These results have seen the 2023 quadruple winners failing to defend the league title for the sixth year in a row.
Our last league match was against Silver Strikers, which ended in a goalless stalemate. Before drawing against the league leaders, we registered a comfortable 5-0 win over Changalume Barracks to reach the Round of 16 of the Castel Challenge Cup.
Before the just-ended international break, we successfully defended the Airtel Top 8 Cup after beating the Central Bankers 1-0 at Bingu National Stadium.
The last time Pasuwa’s men tasted defeat was in September when we lost 1-0 to Bangwe All Stars at Kamuzu Stadium.
Our midweek opponents are coming from a comfortable 3-0 win over Karonga United in the league to keep their hopes of finishing in the top four alive.
Before this huge result, they lost 1-0 to Bangwe and drew 0-0 with Kamuzu Barracks.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The last time Bullets met The Servants in the opening round of this league campaign in Blantyre the spoils were shared following a 1-all draw. Blessings Malinda gave the visitors a lead in the second half before Ernest Petro’s leveller seconds after conceding to avoid another loss at home.
Going into Wednesday’s match, The People’s Team has a better record against the opposition this decade as Abbas Makawa’s side has never beaten Bullets in league assignments.
In the last 16 meetings, Civil has collected only four points over Bullets after drawing four times in 2017, 2022, 2023 and the first round of this term.
Bullets v Civil in the last 10 years
In 2014, we hammered The Servants 3-1 at Civo Stadium before doing a double with a 2-0 home victory in the reverse fixture in Blantyre.
The following season, The People’s Team continued their dominance with a 3-1 first-round win away in Lilongwe before a 2-1 victory at Kamuzu Stadium.
In the 2016 campaign, Maule recorded 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Wednesday’s opposition.
Our meeting in the first-round tie of the 2017 season ended goalless at Civo Stadium. The Servants got hammered 3-0 when they visited us at Kamuzu Stadium for the second-round fixture.
The People’s Team kept getting the better of Civil in 2018, registering back-to-back 2-1 wins to claim another double over the Lilongwe-based team.
In the 2019 season, Civil received a heavy beating for the first time in more than a decade when Pasuwa’s charges ran riot at Kamuzu Stadium to smash the visitors 6-0. Bullets claimed a double in the reverse fixture through Chiukepo Msowoya’s last-minute strike that saw us inching closer to Pasuwa’s second league title in Malawi.
In the 2020/21 season, the Bullets also registered 2-1 victories at home and away against The Servants.
The following season, Pasuwa’s men got four out of the possible six points, beating our opponents 1-0 at Civo Stadium before sharing the points with a 1-1 draw at Kamuzu Stadium in the reverse fixture.
Last term, the first-round tie ended 1-1 as Civil scored through Binwell Katinji before Patrick Mwaungulu equalised to earn us a point away in Lilongwe. In the reverse fixture, The Servants gave away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Kamuzu Stadium. They scored two quick goals through our former striker, Luke Chima, and Katinji, but The People’s Team staged a stunning comeback through Lanjesi Nkhoma, Ephraim Kondowe and Mwaungulu to break the hearts of the visitors.
Our last encounter in the first round of this campaign finished 1-1 in Blantyre.
In the last meetings, Bullets have scored 35 goals past Civil, with the opposition finding the back of our net ten times.
The highest-scoring match during these meetings was the 6-0 hammering of Civil in the 2019 season.
However, this showdown will not be determined by previous records, but by the ability to convert chances into goals, which The People’s Team has lacked in the league this season.
On Wednesday afternoon, Civil will come in search of their first win over Bullets since 2023 when they defeated us 2-1 in the second leg of the Airtel Top 8 quarter-finals at our base. Despite that defeat, we proceeded to the semis, winning the tie 3-2 after we won the first leg 2-0 at Civo Stadium.
In the just-ended 2024 Airtel Top 8 competition, which Pasuwa’s men defended after defeating Silver Strikers in the final, we were 2-0 aggregate winners over The Servants following a two-nil victory in the first leg at home before a scoreless stalemate away in Lilongwe.
TEAM NEWS
Chrispin Mapemba remains on the sidelines with an injury he sustained before the international break in the first half of the Airtel Top 8 final against Silver Strikers at Bingu National Stadium on 9 November.
Pasuwa will also be without his in-form defending midfielder Yankho Singo after he picked a red card during our goalless draw away to Silver on Saturday.
KICK-OFF TIME AND HOW TO WATCH THE MATCH
Our TNM Super League clash with Civil Service United away at Civil Stadium in Lilongwe is scheduled for 14h30.
You can catch all the action live on Mpira TV. It will also be streamed on FIFA+. You can also catch all the match updates on our Facebook and X (Twitter) channels.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: David Chinoko
Assistant Referee 1: Mabvuto Godoya
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Nyirenda
Fourth Official: Gerald Chimimba
