Yanga fans are counting down the hours until they head to Uhuru Stadium to watch their team take on Simba in the highly anticipated Kariakoo Derby, an NBC Premier League clash between Tanzania’s traditional rivals.
The eagerly awaited encounter is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m., with Yanga playing as the away team.
Yanga head into the match in good shape, with all their players available and ready for action.
Yanga head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has thoroughly prepared his squad and promised to contain Simba in the areas they have been exploiting to score goals.
Mngqithi said Simba have relied heavily on set pieces to find the net, with seven of their 11 goals coming from such situations.
Wingers Anicet Oura and Libasse Gueye appear to have played particularly important roles in creating those goals, with Gueye especially influential, having been directly involved in six of the team’s goals.
Mngqithi has prepared his full-backs, Yao Kouassi and Chadrack Boka, to ensure they neutralise the threat posed by those players in their respective areas.
Yao and Boka have demonstrated in previous matches against Simba that they can contain the opposing wingers. Today, they will need to perform that task effectively once again.
Meanwhile, Yanga’s attack, expected to be led by Peter Shalulile, will need to be ruthless in converting the chances created.
Mngqithi said he has no concerns about his team’s ability to create opportunities. He has been working on the training ground to improve his forwards’ efficiency in front of goal.
He added that one day a team would pay the price for the number of chances Yanga have been wasting, expressing his belief that his side would eventually score freely when those opportunities are converted.
Could today be that day? The answer will emerge at Uhuru Stadium at 7:00 p.m.!
