Red Lions march into Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe this afternoon determined to boost their TNM Super League survival hopes when they face Blue Eagles.
The Lions from Zomba are not yet in the comfort zone as they sit one place above relegation zone and a loss Saturday could complicate their situation.
Lions, who have roped in caretaker coaches—Nelson Chirwa and Yohane Fulaye in their quest for survival, have 27 points from 25 matches—four points above 14th-placed PremierBet Wizards who have played two more games.
“The 2-0 win over Wizards last weekend gave us a big boost and if we could also bag full points this weekend then we could be safe,” said Chirwa.
“We have a full squad with no injuries and that gives us plenty of options. We are not moved playing against Eagles at Nankhaka. We have prepared well and we are hopeful of a positive result.”
His Eagles counterpart Christopher Sibale said they are looking forward to making good use of home ground advantage.
Lions will bank their hopes on strikers Boniface Kaulesi and Innocent Bokosi while Eagles will look up to the league’s second leading scorer Mphatso Philliemon, captain Micium Mhone, Gilbert Chirwa, Alpheous Nyoni, Stewart Mbunge and Oswald Maonga.
The Area 30-based cops lie fifth with 41 points from 26 games and a win could see them climb to fourth.
While table-anchors Chitipa United’s fate has already been sealed, others that stare relegation in the face are Blantyre United (15th) and Wizards (16th) while Lions, Dwangwa United and Masters Security have a good chance of escaping the chop.
Dwangwa are a place above Lions with 28 points from 25 matches while Masters also have 28 points from 26 matches.
If Blantyre United win their three remaining games, they will end up with 30 points while Wizards will amass 32 points. This means Lions must win two of their five games to be on the safe side.
In Blantyre, Civil Sporting Club face another relegation-threatened side Blantyre United at Chilomoni Stadium. A loss for United will mean relegation battle is lost.
In an interview from Blantyre on Friday United coach MacDonald Mtetemera said: “We know the importance of this game and we will give our all to win.”
In the first round, Sporting Club won 1-0 in Lilongwe.
Sporting Club team manager Gabriel Chirwa said they will do a repeat Saturday.
“Ndi ana awa [they are not our class]. We know how badly they will want to win this game, but we are beating them,” he said. n
