Hungry Leopards stalk Police in Dandora
AFC Leopards forward Clifton Miheso passes the ball during their Football Kenya Federation Premier League match against Bandari on May 5 at Dandora Stadium.
Kenya Police face AFC Leopards in their quest to keep their slim title hopes alive at Dandora Stadium in Nairobi.
The Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) match between the in-form teams is set to kick off at 3pm.
The match is among the eight top-flight league games scheduled for today at different venues across the country.
Runaway leaders Gor Mahia face KCB at SportPesa Arena from 3pm tomorrow.
After 29 matches, Gor top the 18-team league with 63 points, nine ahead of second-placed Police.
A win over KCB will see K’Ogalo only needing four points from their remaining four matches to clinch an unprecedented 21st league title.
With a nine-point buffer between Gor and their closest challengers, coach Johnthan McKinstry has said that they want to amass more points than they did last season.
Gor clinched their 20th FKF-PL title with 70 points last season, just one more than second-placed Tusker. McKinstry is expected to take over the coaching role of the Gambia national football men’s team after this campaign.
Gor are unbeaten in their last five matches – winning the last four. Ranked 11th with 36 points, KCB are winless in their last five league matches – drawing thrice and losing twice.
The two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in the first-leg encounter held in October last year. Gor’s striker Benson Omala will be out to increase his goals tally to keep pace in the Golden Boot race.
He is joint top in the scorer’s chart with Police striker Tito Okello on 15 goals.
Okello, a South Sudan international, will be among the players to watch against Leopards, having scored seven goals in their last five league matches.
Police are unbeaten in 16 matches they have played this year.
The two sides will also face off in the semi-finals of the Mozzart Bet Cup later this month.
Police and Leopards battled to a 2-2 draw in their first-leg league meeting held in September last year.
Police head into the match on the back of a seven-match winning streak – five league matches and two Mozzart Bet Cup matches. On the other hand, Leopards, who are placed sixth with 44 points, have only lost twice this year in all 16 matches.
They have won their last two matches – 3-0 against FC Talanta and 1-0 against Bandari.
Shabana welcome Talanta at Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay in the relegation battle.
Talanta are 14th with 30 points, two more than 15th-placed Shabana.
The two teams drew 1-1 in the first-leg encounter. Muhoroni Youth will face Bandari at Muhoroni Stadium in Kisumu, while bottom-placed Nzoia Sugar will clash with Kakamega Homeboyz at Mumias Sport Complex.
Sofapaka will face Posta Rangers at Dandora Stadium.
