BY FORTUNE MBELE CHICKEN Inn will on Saturday meet Dynamos for the 20th Castle Lager Premier Soccer League game since they were elevated in 2011 as the former seek to continue dominating one of the country’s biggest football clubs.
The two clash at Barbourfields Stadium, in a match that is likely to draw a sizeable crowd, as Dynamos make their third league visit to the City of Kings and Queens in the 2021/2022 football season.
Both sides are chasing the league title which has been monopolised by FC Platinum in the past three seasons.
Chicken Inn sit on position two on the log table with 41 points, four behind the platinum miners, while the Glamour Boys are on 36 points after each side has played 21 games.
In the 19 league games Chicken Inn and Dynamos have played since 2011, the GameCocks have picked up seven victories, while DeMbare have won five times with the two sides having played seven draws.
Interestingly, Dynamos have visited Chicken Inn nine times in Bulawayo and have only travelled back home with only one win in a decade when they beat the GameCocks 1-0 in 2015, the year the latter nicked the championship.
Chicken Inn have won four times in Bulawayo, recording three victories against Dynamos in Harare over the years.
Dynamos, coming from a rather sloppy run after beating Caps United early last month, will obviously want to change that piece of history against Chicken Inn on Saturday as they seek to close in on their hosts and mount a formidable challenge for the elusive championship title.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Meanwhile, the GameCocks will want to continue their dominance over DeMbare and if they win on Saturday and FC Platinum slump at home to ZPC Kariba, they will be back in contention for the title.
Chicken Inn bounced back to their winning ways on Sunday, beating Bulawayo Chiefs 3-1 after losing twice to FC Platinum and Tenax.
They last won the league title in 2015 under coach Joey Antipas, in a year in which they clobbered Dynamos 3-0 in Harare when DeMbare was under the late David Mandigora.
Tonderai Ndiraya took over from Mandigora and went on to beat Chicken Inn at Barbourfields Stadium in the reverse fixture.
In 2016, Chicken Inn had no mercy; hammering Dynamos 3-0 at the same venue and completing a double with a 3-2 win in Harare.
The following year, the GameCocks held Dynamos to a goalless draw again in Bulawayo and went on to win the home game 1-0 and in 2018 Chicken Inn edged Dynamos 1-0 at home and the Harare match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Before COVID-19 stalled all football activities in 2020, Chicken Inn collected maximum points with a 2-0 win at BF with DeMbare also winning 1-0 at home in 2019.
In February this year, Chicken Inn returned to Harare and beat Dynamos 1-0.
Weekend fixtures
Friday: Herentals v WhaWha (NSS)
Saturday: Cranborne Bullets v Harare City (Vengere), FC Platinum v ZPC Kariba (Mandava), Chicken Inn v Dynamos (Barbourfields), Yadah v Ngezi Platinum Stars (NSS)
Sunday: Highlanders v Bulawayo City (Barbourfields), Caps United v Manica Diamonds (NSS), Triangle v Black Rhinos (Gibbo), Tenax v Bulawayo Chiefs (Vengere).
- Follow Fortune on Twitter @FortuneMbele
