After a week of preparations, it’s now time for action as the country’s most successful teams Highlanders and Dynamos clash in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday.
It has been a long wait — since April 5 — and the fans can barely wait a day longer.
It’s either Dynamos will win, which will hand Highlanders their first loss of the season, or they will draw, which will take the leaders’ unbeaten run to 15 games.
But should Highlanders win, the gap between the two teams will widen, putting Dynamos even more under pressure.
After this match, they face Caps United at Rufaro before travelling to Mandava to meet FC Platinum.
The Bulawayo football giants have played 14 matches without a defeat, drawing five times, amassing 32 points in the process and scoring 26 goals.
Zambian coach Kelvin Kaindu’s boys have conceded eight goals so far while their perennial rivals have played 11 games, lost two and drawn twice, finding the net 20 times and letting in five goals and sit on position seven.
Interesting to note is how the two clubs have fared against the teams they have each played as the league reaches its halfway mark.
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DeMbare thumped new boys Hardbody 3-0 in their first match on April 1 at Rufaro Stadium and Bosso beat the Gweru busmen 5-3 at Barbourfields two weeks later.
Highlanders travelled to Mutare where they drew 1-1 at Sakubva with army side Buffaloes on April 22, a team that the Glamour Boys dismissed 2-0 on May 3 at the same venue.
The Kalisto Pasuwa-coached Dynamos then thumped Black Mambas 4-1 at Rufaro on April 22 and Highlanders also pummelled the police side 3-1 at Morris Depot on May 5.
Dynamos were handed their first defeat of the season by Monomotapa on April 14 with a 1-0 scoreline at Rufaro with Bosso hammering Monos 3-0 at Emagumeni on May 13.
Highlanders beat Hwange 1-0 at BF on May 19; a side DeMbare accounted for with a 4-2 win but the PSL disciplinary committee ordered a replay of the match.
But the decision awaits arbitration from the Zifa appeals committee after the Glamour Boys contested the decision.
Dynamos went on to edge Chicken Inn 2-1 in Harare on May 20 and the fast-foods outlet side held the log leaders to a goalless draw at Barbourfields on June 10.
Both sides shared the spoils with Motor Action in Harare with Dynamos stomaching their second loss to Harare City 1-0 on June 20 in the capital before the Premiership debutants held Bosso to a 1-1 at BF on July 1.
Dynamos then thumped hapless Blue Rangers 6-0 and Highlanders hammered the struggling Harare side 4-0. Highlanders and Dynamos have each had the edge over Gunners while on their first trip to Bulawayo in the league the latter beat Quelaton 1-0 at Luveve on July 4. Quelaton held Bosso to a 1-1 draw on July 15.
Highlanders will be seeking to sharpen their scoring skills with strikers Graham Ncube, Beaven Chikaka, Masimba Mambare and young Ozias Zibande, who usually comes from the bench.
Mthulisi Maphosa will be in charge in midfield with Peter “Rio” Moyo, Milton Ncube and Simon Munawa with skipper Innocent Mapuranga and midfielder-turned-defender Eric Mudzingwa in the heart of defence.
Kaindu said: “We have been training as usual. We have got some players who have injuries here and there. We are taking the game just like any other but we know how important it is for the Highlanders supporters.
“Dynamos have been dominating Highlanders and we last beat them in 2006. That gives them the edge but they come at a time when we are in good form.”
