Record champions Gor Mahia will be plotting to return to winning ways when they take on Nairobi City Stars at the Kasarani Stadium.K’Ogalo who boast of the best defence having leaked just four times played their traditional rivals AFC Leopards to a barren draw last weekend at the Nyayo Stadium.They head to Kasarani looking to skin Simba wa Nairobi alive and plug in the gap between them and log leaders Nzoia Sugar who are just within a touching distance.Should Gor beat City Stars, the former champions wil scale to the summit pending the outcome of the match pitting Nzoia and Leopards on Sunday.##NAJAVA_MECA_6999255##Similarly, City Stars will also be gunning to get back on track after suffering a 2-1 defeat in the hands of Bandari last weekend.The Nicholas Muyoti coached outfit will be boosted by the return of attacking midfielder Mohammed Bajaber who had been out nursing an injury. Elsewhere, hosts Kakamega Homeboyz will be looking to capitalize on home advantage and floor the struggling Posta Rangers.Homeboyz who are coming from a 5-1 win over Mathare United have won once while playing in front of their home fans and will be hoping to register the second home win in the campaign.CHAN 2022: Algeria, Senegal to face off at Mandela StadiumRangers on the other hand have a difficult task of returning to winning ways after failing to bag three points in the last seven rounds. KCB vs Mathare UnitedKCB will take on a hapless Mathare United in one of the two matches slated for Kasarani Annex starting at 1 PM EAt.The Bankers are on a seven-match unbeaten streak while on the other hand, Mathare United have picked points from only two matches, winning in one and sharing the spoils in another.The Slum Boys parted ways with coach Boniface Omondi after just 46 six days, a coach who had steered the club to only one win and one draw in the ten matches they had played.##NAJAVA_MECA_6999247##A win for KCB will see them move to level on points with Nzoia Sugar, with the margin of the win dictate whether they go past Nzoia, and their change in position will be determined by the results of the other matches pitting Gor Mahia and Tusker as well.Mathare have conceded the most number of goals so far in the campaign, 27, and the explosive KCB forward line will seek to exploit Mathare’s backline that will be without the only experienced defender in the team Lennox Ogutu who was sent off against Kenya Police in midweek.FC Talanta vs BandariLater at the same venue, FC Talanta host a Bandari side that picked a late win after scoring from the spot against Nairobi City Stars at Mbaraki Grounds last weekend.##NAJAVA_MECA_6999261##Both teams are in the bottom half of the league standings and only three points separating the two as Bandari sits 12th with 15 points while Talanta are 15th with 12.Elsewhere at the Ruaraka Grounds, reigning champions, Tusker will be seeking to bounce back from last weekend’s pounding from Kenya Police FC.An Elvis Rupia hattrick condemned the Brewers to a 3-0 defeat, their heaviest in a while and they will be hoping to arrest the bad run against Kariobangi Sharks.Sharks haven’t lost in their last four games. Last week’s stoppage-time penalty kick helped them secure a point in a 1-1 defeat against Bidco United and they will be hoping to get something out of the match against Robert Matano’s men.Mercurial Tusker ranked best Kenyan club ahead of record champions Gor MahiaTusker captain Humphrey Mieno says the defeat was a wake-up call and that they need to show character by bouncing back.”It was a good wake-up call to show us that the league is a marathon and not a sprint as we had thought earlier because of winning the first six matches. We now need to focus and work more on the pitch as we try to register positive results,” he said.”At times you just have a rough patch. Things do not go your way despite trying to work hard but I think it all comes down to mental strength as you try to pick up yourself from such a loss and try to win the next match. People are working well and are really focused on the coming match and I think we will bounce back from the loss and the poor run in January,”.Sharks coach William Muluya will be hoping that they play better than they did against Bidco.”I don’t think we had the right energy against Bidco right from the word go where we conceded early on. We, however, managed to salvage the point, but the performance was not to the level required,”.
