It’s Matchweek 30 of the 2024 TNM Super League season and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets conclude the campaign at home, welcoming Kamuzu Barracks on Saturday afternoon at Kamuzu Stadium.
It’s a dead rubber match as the championship race was already decided last week when Silver Strikers beat Mighty Mukuru Wanderers to win their first league title in 11 years.
But head coach Kalisto Pasuwa said in his pre-match press conference on Friday that he would love to see his team maintaining the winning run as Bullets are still hunting for another silverware, the Castel Challenge Cup.
A win on Saturday will see the 2023 quadruple-winning Maule finishing the campaign in third position with 55 points.
This is the fourth time for The People’s Team to miss out on the top two positions in the last decade after finishing seventh in the 2010 season with 41 points, eleventh in the 2011 season with 40 points and eighth in the 2013 season with 43 points.
Bullets were runners-up in 2012 after collecting 58 points, level with Silver Strikers but lost the title due to an inferior goal difference.
We also finished second in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, as the titles went to Kamuzu Barracks and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, respectively.
Bullets won the championship in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020/21, 2022 and the 2023 seasons before surrendering it to the Central Bankers, now coached by our former player and assistant coach, Peter Mponda.
Saturday’s final match is very important to both teams. Bullets will be looking to finish the season on a high while KB will be hoping for a win to cement their place in the Top Eight, but it will depend on Karonga United, Creck Sporting Club and Moyale Barracks’ results on the final day of the league campaign.
FORM GUIDE
Back-to-back wins over FOMO and Karonga United saw Bullets cementing the third position, behind Silver and Wanderers in the standings.
Pasuwa’s charges beat FOMO 2-0 away at Mulanje Park last Sunday before coming from behind to claim a 3-1 win over Karonga on Wednesday.
Before these two matches, Bullets played out two back-to-back draws away to Silver and Civil Service United.
With a game to go, Bullets have registered 13 wins, taking their tally to 52 points, seven points below what they accumulated last season at the same stage of the competition.
As for the opponents, they have been struggling for results. They are winless in their last four games across all competitions.
Kamuzu Barracks are coming from a 2-1 loss to Civil in the Castel Challenge Cup Round of 16. They also lost 2-0 to Moyale, and 2-1 to Mafco before being held to a goalless draw by Civil in the league, minimizing their chances of qualifying for the Airtel Top 8. They are currently tenth in the table with 37 points from 29 games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bullets have an excellent file over KB and have gained 21 points from our last nine meetings.
In the 2022 season, The People’s Team collected four out of the possible six points after winning the first-round match 1-0 in Lilongwe through a late strike from Babatunde Adepoju. In the reverse fixture, we played out to a 1-all draw at Kamuzu Stadium.
In the 2020/21 season, we claimed a double over Alick Chirwa’s side, beating them 3-1 and 3-0 in the two fixtures of that term, with the final game officially declaring The People’s Team as title winners.
It was only in 2019 that KB got the better of the defending champions with a narrow 1-0 win through Ndaona Daisi’s strike in a match dominated by Bullets, who failed to capitalize on the plenty of chances created on that day.
Last season, the first round ended goalless, but Bullets got the better of the opposition in the second round when we came from behind to beat them 3-2 courtesy of Lanjesi Nkhoma’s brace and a lone strike from Maxwell Phodo. They grabbed their brace through Olson Kanjira.
In the first round of this campaign, the two teams played out a goalless draw at Civo Stadium in a match also dominated by Bullets, but the visitors were wasteful in front of goals.
TEAM NEWS
Blessings Mpokera is not available for our final match of the Super League campaign following an injury he suffered during our 3-1 win over Karonga United midweek.
The defender joins Chrispin Mapemba, Clyde Senaji and Anthony Mfune on the treatment beds.
Ephraim Kondowe is also unavailable for Pasuwa’s side due to a suspension after accumulating three yellow cards. The rest of the players who faced Karonga on Wednesday are available for selection.
KICK-OFF TIME AND HOW TO WATCH THE MATCH
Our final TNM Super League match against the Lilongwe soldiers at Kamuzu Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 14h30.
You can catch all the action live on FIFA+. You can also get all the match updates on our Facebook and X (Twitter) channels.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Zebron Lengani
Assistant Referee 1: Wales Chisi
Assistant Referee 2: Symon Rajab
Fourth Official: Mwayi Msungama
