Cities, Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu are going to be decided not by races or tribes, but by colours. The Commercial city is going to be sundered into blue and red, Lilongwe is going to be furcated to sky blue and green/yellow while the green city will be ramified to green and purple/yellow.
Blantyre Derby and Mzuzu Derby produced balanced results in the first round while Civil Service United will be looking for revenge in the second half of the season as they were overpowered by the high-flying Silver Strikers at home.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers are at home against their sworn rivals, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, Silver Strikers are eager to continue their unbeaten streak while Moyale Barracks will be looking to continue with their home ground superiority.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers vs FCB Nyasa Big Bullets- Saturday, 26 October
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers are enjoying a better season than their perennial rivals, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets sitting second on the log table and they are 7 points ahead of Kalisto Pasuwa’s side after playing 22 games each.
Statistically, powered by Isaac Kaliati’s wizardly, the Nomads have had a season to remember, scoring a total of 43 goals, playing them slightly above leaders, Silver Strikers, conceding just 11 goals. On the other hand, Bullets are fourth on the log table with 37 points from 22 games, they are enduring a difficult season [compared to their previous seasons], scoring just 28 goals in 22 outings, conceding 15 goals along the process.
It’s suffice to say that the defending Champions’ performance has been pummeled by the team’s deficiency in attacking creativity and profligacy of the attacking players, evidenced by the absence of the member of their squad in the best playmakers in the league this season.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ Isaac Kaliati is enjoying a season of his life, leading the scoring chart after plundering 14 goals in 20 games and he has provided 8 assists, just one below his teammate, Gaddie Chirwa.
Babatunde Adepoju is the top scorer for Bullets this season, scoring half of Kaliati’s total goals [7]. The forthcoming Derby presents a chance to both teams, for Wanderers, to prove their title ambition and/or for Bullets, to send message of their intent to defend the title.
Heading into the headline-hogging fixture, Kalisto Pasuwa’s side is feeling some spell of consistency that the coach has been craving for, winning four of their last five league games. They beat Chitipa United 4-2, CRECK Sporting Club 4-3, Baka City 1-0, Mafco FC 1-0 but they dropped points against Mzuzu City Hammers.
Turning to the blue side, since the departure of the Burundian gaffer, Mswazirimo Ramadan, it has been a novelty to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, maintaining consistency for about three months. Winning 10 of their last 14 league games propelled them into the championship pipe but they are going into the weekend’s fixture after a morale-sapping result against Karonga United.
“We have so many games to play. We have to redeem ourselves, encourage one another, everything is possible in football. We need our supporters more than before, they need to push us. They should come in large numbers as they have been doing.”
On the title race, “We are still there in contention, we will fight until the end. The players did everything to score [against Karonga United.] Sometimes, it doesn’t go to your favour, we had our chances and we could have scored. We didn’t expect to lose here but this is football.”
The much-anticipated Blantyre Derby hasn’t been falling short of dramas and hype in recent years. None of the team has been superior to another team in the last three years in league matches. However, overall, Bullets have won 22 games while Wanderers have won 14 times in all competitions since 2008.
After the fixture produced stalemates in the last four league meetings, matchgoers will be itching to see one team claiming three points over another. FCB Nyasa Big Bullets were the last team to bag all the points on a league Derby when Anthony Mfune came off the bench to score in the closing stages of the game in 2022 after Nyangulu cancelled Chimwemwe Idana’s early goal.
Wanderers’ only league Derby win was in 2020 when now CRECK Sporting Club’s striker, Vincent Nyangulu’s bullet header ended the Nomads’ 8-year wait for the league win over their neighbors.
In the first round of this season, points were shared after a 1-all draw with Isaac Kaliati scoring for the Nomads while Patrick Mwaungulu scored for Bullets.
In 2023, each team won two points from the fixture after both games ended in 1-all and barren stalemate in the second round and first round respectively. Stanley Sanudi scored a beauty in the first half but Maxwell Gastin Phodo scored early in the second half.
Moyale Barracks vs Mzuzu City Hammers- Saturday, 26 October
With each team losing just one game from their recent five matches, the Green city Derby promises to be a cracker and intriguing fixture.
Moyale Barracks are unbeaten at home this season, they are one of the only teams that have collected at least a point in all their home games. They are facing their rivals, Mzuzu City Hammers off the back of a 3-1 win over Super League rookies, Friends of Mulanje Orphans, FOMO Football when they came from behind.
The Lions of Kaning’ina have been searching for the win and their win over FOMO FC ended their four-game winless run and they will be looking to record their first back-to-back wins for the first time since July when they beat Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Baka City in two succession weeks.
Before winning against FOMO, Moyale Barracks played three back-to-back draws against Mafco FC, Silver Strikers and CRECK Sporting Club before losing 1-0 to Civil Service United.
The Iron Boys have won two games from their last four matches, beating Baka City and Kamuzu Barracks, drawing against FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Waka Waka Tigers. They are enjoying a four-game unbeaten run on the bounce since losing back-to-back against Civil Service United and Karonga United.
Saturday’s game is going to be 10th meeting between the two sides since Hammers were promoted to TNM Super League in 2021. Moyale Barracks have won two games and seven games ended in stalemate.
Silver Strikers vs Civil Service United- Sunday, 27 October
“We were the first team in Lilongwe to win the Super League,” bragged Civil Service United early on Wednesday on their Facebook page. This will remain a fact until forever as the Servants won the league in 1987, a year just after the l while the as rolled out in Malawi.
However, overall, Silver Strikers have managed to create a wider gulf over their neighbors, bagging home 21 wins since 2008 against Civil’s 8 in all competitions.
Civil Service United have just lost one game in their last 10 league matches, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, winning as many as games they have drawn (5)
As Civil Service United are making a short trip to Area 47 on Sunday, they are coming from a barren stalemate against FCB Nyasa Big Bullets in a cup game but their last league assignment saw them getting three points against Moyale Barracks.
Silver Strikers escaped from the jaws of CRECK Sporting Club in their last league game, coming from behind twice to snatch a point in Mchinji, a fighting spirit which impressed the coach, Peter Mponda.
“It was a good game as we performed very well. We are disappointed with the result of the game but we are not surprised as it looked like we played against a lot of sides but all in all that’s football”, said Mponda after the game.
Silver Strikers will be looking to widen their gap with their closest challengers, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and at the same time, they will be looking to register their first double over their neighbors since 2017 when they claimed 2-1 wins in both rounds. Mathews Sibale scored in the 29th minute but Joseph Dudu Kachule cancelled it from the spot before Kondwani Mwayira won it late. Silver Strikers completed the double at home when Sibale and Blessings Tembo scored while Kachule scored a consolation goal for the Servants.
Silver Strikers were 2-0 winners in the first round with Innocent Shema and Charles Chipala scoring, their second win in two games as they were also 1-0 winners in the 2023 second round when Patrick Macheso scored the only goal.
Civil Service United will be looking for their second Derby win in 8 games as they currently hold one win in seven meetings in all competitions, they were 2-1 winners in the first round of the 2023 with Binwell Katinji and Luke Chima scoring for the Servants while Chimwemwe Idana scored a consolation goal for the Bankers at Silver Stadium.