Defending champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets welcome Dedza Dynamos in the TNM Super League at Kamuzu Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It’s another exciting fixture to be played at the iconic venue and the log leaders will be eager to continue making the most of home-ground advantage to strengthen the lead at the top of the standings.
In the absence of fellow title contenders Silver Strikers and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, who opted to be exempted from having games after contributing four players to the national team, a win on Saturday will see The People’s Team opening a three-point gap on top of The Bankers.
Form Guide
Bullets had a comfortable 3-0 win over Blue Eagles last Sunday to dislodge Silver Strikers from the summit of the table with the same number of points, 25, but with a superior goal difference.
It was the first victory in three games after Kalisto Pasuwa’s charges had registered two back-to-back goalless draws against Kamuzu Barracks and Wanderers before meeting Eagles.
The win on Sunday afternoon was all that Maule needed to bounce back from the frustrating stalemates going into Matchweek 14, and this will give them confidence going into Week 15 of this campaign at a venue they last lost a game in September 2021.
Pasuwa’s men will, however, have to battle with a Dynamos side desperate for a win after collecting just a point from a possible nine in their last three games.
The men from the Central Region failed to get over the line in their last away game against Karonga United, giving away a first-half early lead to lose 2-1.
Before this defeat, they had played out to a 1-all draw away to Wanderers before losing 2-0 to Moyale Barracks a fortnight ago.
The slump in form saw them dropping into 10th position with 14 points from 12 games.
However, our Saturday opponents are the third-highest-scoring team with 15 goals behind Bullets and Silver, who have found the back of the net 23 and 19 times, respectively.
Dedza are expected to be a tough customer for Bullets, considering that the last two meetings between the two teams only produced four goals.
Head-to-Head
They have only played each other twice following Dedza Dynamos’ promotion to the top-flight league from the Chipiku Central Region Football League at the end of the 2020/21 season.
We faced them at Balaka Stadium in the first round of the 2022 campaign in which Babatunde Adepoju’s strike was enough to seal all three points for Pasuwa’s side.
In the second round, we met again for the final fixture of the season at Kamuzu Stadium and Bullets won 2-1 courtesy of a strike in each half from Babatunde and Hassan Kajoke who came from the bench to score the winner when the game was at 1-1. The visitors scored their goal through Ibrahim Sadik.
Team News
Bullets will continue without defender Clyde Senaji and the midfield trio of Mike Mkwate, Ernest Petro and Stanley Billiat due to injuries, while Maxwell Gasten Phodo is out having resumed light training this week following his recovery from illness.
The People’s Team will also miss the services of Alick Lungu, Frank Willard, Patrick Mwaungulu and Lanjesi Nkhoma, who are with the Malawi National Football Team at the ongoing COSAFA Cup in South Africa.
But the good news is that Nickson Nyasulu is back in contention for a role to play in this encounter after recovering from a knee injury.
So far, the opposition has no injured player nor suspension concerns ahead of the match, and coach Gilbert Chirwa has all his arsenal to select from at his disposal.
What assistant coach Heston Munthali said ahead of the tie
“It’s a tricky fixture for us because our opponents haven’t won any game in the last three outings and they will come hard on us to bounce back. But we have been talking to our players to be focused and not underrate the visitors.
“The aim is for us to collect [all] points [on Saturday] to prove our title ambitions. We have to continue winning and this presents yet another opportunity to do that.”
How to follow the game
The match will be live on Mpira TV and online it will be streamed on FIFA+. You can also catch the match updates on our Facebook and Twitter channels.
Match officials
Alfred Kaphamtengo will be the centre referee in our 13th league match of this campaign as we host Dedza Dynamos for the second time in history at Kamuzu Stadium.
Referee: Alfred Kaphamtengo
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Shumba
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Chataika
Fourth Official: Benson Subili
Match Assessor: Chalvin Ngolanga
