Gor Mahia tackle wobbly Sony Sugar in Kisumu
What you need to know:
- This will be a battle between the bottom and top sides in the standings, as Gor lead the table with 31 points, with Sony at the tail end on 14 points.
Relegation-threatened Sony Sugar face a daunting task on Wednesday afternoon when defending champions Gor Mahia visit at the Moi Stadium in Kisumu in the only midweek SportPesa Premier League match.
This will be a battle between the bottom and top sides in the standings, as Gor lead the table with 31 points, with Sony at the tail end on 14 points.
Both teams will however be coming into the game on the back of successful victories in their previous matches, as Gor demolished Mombasa’s SS Assad 5-1 in the opening round of the SportPesa Shield tournament, and Sony laboured to a 1-0 win over Chemelil Sugar away in a league match at the weekend.
Gor are out to return to the league set up with a win following a dramatic 3-3 draw with Sofapaka in their last top flight match 10 days ago - and the history between the two sides highly favours the defending champions.
Gor have not lost a match to the sugar millers in the last seven years, although the match-up between the two sides has always produced fireworks.
“I am happy with my players’ attitude. Knockout games are usually difficult regardless of which opponents you are facing. We are constantly looking to win and so focus now shifts to our game on Wednesday,” said Gor coach Dylan Kerr.
Of concern to Kerr is the fact that lead striker Jacques Tuyisenge went down with a knock during the domestic cup game against SS Assad, and was yet to be cleared by the team’s doctors on Tuesday afternoon.
All other players, save for Wellington Ochieng and Karim Nizigiyimana, who are both nursing long term injuries, are fit and available for the match.
Sony have already started making changes to their squad in a bid to save their season and have released midfielders Jesse Obare and Kelvin Muhanji, goalkeeper Kevin Olang'o and winger Tyron Owino.
Congolese striker Mwana Yema hasn’t featured for the team for a month now, with inside sources saying that he is serving an indefinite suspension.
“We shall use the players we have. All players here were signed to play football and they are all willing to play for the team. This is a big match so we obviously need to be a little more meticulous, but we shall do our best to ensure we compete,” said Sony coach Patrick Odhiambo.
