A thrilling Friday afternoon top-flight fixture between twelve-time Kenyan champions AFC Leopards and current league leaders, Tusker, who are favorites to clinch the title this season and equal Ingwe’s tally holds promises of thrills and frills.The brewers take to Ruaraka Grounds seeking to revenge two incidents; an opening day defeat to Ingwe at Kasarani Annex and FKF Cup elimination in the quarterfinal last month that ended Tusker’s hope of a season double courtesy of Isaac Kipyegon’s lone strike.AFC Leopards and Tusker have been genuine title contenders all season, though Tusker have shown more intent and the reward has been hefty; a CAF Champions League ticket with Ingwe missing on both CAF CL and CAF Confederation Cup after falling to Gor Mahia in the FKF Cup final.Ingwe emerged victorious in the first leg encounter of this fixture courtesy of goals from Robinson Kamura and Elvis Rupia, with Tusker’s consolation coming from David Majak who has since left the club.Both teams will be without a set of key players but none of the sides is perturbed by that, with both clubs confident that they have the much-needed quality coming into this game.Full timeAFC Leopards 2-1 Tusker FCAFC Leopards on top the table#FKFPL pic.twitter.com/6vEjmbmWdT— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) November 28, 2020 Tusker’s tactician Robert Matano is confident that his charges will give a good showing of themselves despite six of their key players being unavailable for the clash.“We are good but we do not have around six of our players. Kevin ‘Kepha’ Okoth got injured yesterday, Christopher Oruchum is out, Hashim Sempala has five yellow cards, Henry Meja and Boniface Muchiri are with the national team, Luke Namanda is also not there. We will miss them but then we have other players coming in who have not been playing. They will need to stand in and show cause why they are in the team because the spirit is high for every player and each one of them is ready to play” Matano told the Club’s media.In the last 10 encounters, Tusker have been the dominant side, winning six while AFC Leopards have won only thrice, and there being just one draw in those 10 matches.🎯| The boys enjoyed a light session this morning ahead of tomorrow’s tie against AFC Leopards in Thika. pic.twitter.com/Paf5HrcEfw— Tusker FC (@tusker_fc) July 15, 2021 Leopards will most likely be without Kamura, Austin Omondi, Marvin Nabwire, Lewis Bandi, Said Tsuma, Clyde Senaji, Hansel Ochieng’, and Benjamin Ochan, with Collins Shichenje and the Cup scorer Kipyegon being doubtfuls.Ingwe’s defender Washington Munene, who has been manning the left flank and had a hand in goal the last outing, is confident that they have the right quality in the team and thus they will give their all against Tusker”There is a lot of quality in the team. We are going into this game with our heads high hoping for a maximum points. We know it is a tough match but there is no doubt that the morale in the team is high. We are professionals and we know what to do,” Munene saidMatch Day.🆚| AFC Leopards🏟️| Thika Stadium🕒| 3:15pm EAT📺| BTV/Startimes #KenyaMilele #Brewers4Life pic.twitter.com/h8DA3kstS4— Tusker FC (@tusker_fc) July 16, 2021 The Brewers have outscored Ingwe by far this season, which has been their main strength. They have found the net 43 times and with 13 different players while Patrick Aussems men have netted only 27 times with half of those goals being from Elvis Rupia.However, Ingwe have been the most compact defensively of the two sides, conceding only 17 goals while Tusker have let in 21. Only KCB have conceded less with 16 from 23 matches.Tusker continues to lead the log with 51 points while AFC Leopards are third with 43 points.
