An in-form Nairobi City Stars, looking to prevent a league double against Kenya’s most decorated club, will present the first test for Gor Mahia interim head coach Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo when the two sides meet at Ruaraka Grounds on Saturday afternoon.Just a week ago, Pamzo who was the assistant was elevated into the head coach rank until the end of the season after the sudden departure of Portuguese head coach Manuel Vaz Pinto who decided to go back home just weeks after lifting his first honours with Gor.Going into the clash, however, Pamzo will quickly need to devise a way of rediscovering the team’s mojo in the league. For the first time this season, Gor have gone for four games without a win as they have dropped even further when it comes to talk of defending their title. Currently, the 19-time champions sit in fourth place, fifteen points off log leading Tusker with only nine games to go.To add salt to injury, the task is made even more daunting with the fact that up to seven players will be missing for the record Kenyan champions due to various reasons. Frank Odhiambo, Geoffrey Ochieng, Kenneth Muguna, Joachim Oluoch, Andrew ‘Roma’ Juma, Charles Momanyi, and Alpha Onyango will all miss the tie in what Pamzo referred to as a ‘mini-crisis’.⚽️| Otek small💀#GorMahia #Sirkal #BKPL https://t.co/50cux00saS— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) July 15, 2021 Despite the key absentees, champions are not given any room for excuses and Pamzo has called on his side to rise to the prevailing situation at hand and get the job done against a City Stars side enjoying their best form yet.”These are players that have been very consistent in their performances, having them not part of the team will be a blow for us. The mini-crisis has come at a very bad time but we will just try to manage as we know that City Stars have been having a very good run,” he said.Mozzart Sport: Crisis at Gor Mahia with upto seven players out of City Stars fixture@NrbCityStars -👇🏾👀#GorMahia #NairobiCityStars #BKPLpic.twitter.com/kPiqCrNR9S— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) July 16, 2021 When the two sides met back in May after the immediate resumption of sporting activities in the country, a solitary Karim Abdoul goal was the telling difference in the match. And with City Stars having never recorded a victory in the last five meetings with Gor – losing four and drawing one – perhaps there will never be a better opportunity to avenge their first-leg loss and claim the first win over Gor since 2011. City Stars head coach Sanjin Alagic is hopeful the good run the club is in can break that ten-year wait for a win against K’Ogalo.“The team is in a good run, we play good football, and the atmosphere in training is great so we are ready for tomorrow’s big challenge against a very good team in Gor. I believe at this moment we are in better shape, I expect a tough match but in the end, I believe we are ready to win,” he said.NEXT MATCH | FKF-PL Round 26 ⏩📆| Saturday 17th July 2021🆚| Gor Mahia🏆| FKF-PL 🕒| 1515 EAT🏟️| Ruaraka Grounds#𝕊𝕚𝕞𝕓𝕒𝕎𝕒ℕ𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕚BETTER MUST COMEFollow us on Nairobi City Stars FC for all updates pic.twitter.com/4z0pgI2IIo— Official Nairobi City Stars Fc (@NrbCityStars) July 14, 2021 The match kicks off at 1500EAT.
