Silver Strikers and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers are familiar foes in domestic football, and this afternoon, they face-off in the first leg of the 2023 Airtel Top 8 quarterfinal at Bingu National Stadium.
This is official match to mark the start of the Airtel Top 8 season 6.
The Nomads, who are Airtel Top 8 defending champions have a score to settle against Silver in this competition, having lost all the previous meetings.
This is the fourth meeting between the two sides since the Airtel Top 8 was introduced in 2017. Wanderers and Silver met in the inaugural final of the Airtel Top 8 but the Central Bankers triumphed 10-9 on post-match penalties after a goal-less draw in regulation time.
Again, the two teams were drawn together in the quarterfinals of the 2019 edition but Silver won both legs by 1-0 margins.
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The Bankers will be looking to maintain their dominance over Wanderers in the competition.
They are the only side to have won the Airtel Top 8 Cup twice since its introduction in 2017.
They won the inaugural edition before beating Karonga United 1-0 in the 2019 final. Both teams have been inconsistent this season.
Silver are coming straight from their 1-0 loss to Dedza Dynamos Salima Sugar at Champion Stadium on Saturday.
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On the part of Wanderers, they lost 1-0 to Mafco in the semi-final of the FDH Bank Cup but bounced back with a 2-1 win over Karonga in a league match on Wednesday.
For this season, the two teams are meeting for the second time after Wanderers beat Silver 1-0 in a league match at Kamuzu Stadium.
Ironically, Silver suffered a setback as coach Pieter de Jongh flew out of the country for Kenya after the expiry of his work permit Friday.
This happened on the eve of the first match.
Silver Spokesperson Willard said the Dutchman’s work permit expired Friday.
Chakanika said efforts to renew Jongh’s work permit proved futile Friday due to shortage of forex in the country.
“We applied for the renewal of his work permit but we were not successful, so he decided to travel to Kenya until we sort out the matter,’’ Chakanika said.
Back to the match, Silver will be without striker Stain Davie due to injury while midfielder Chimwemwe Idana will add creativity in the midfield alongside Patrick Macheso.
Goalkeeper Pilirani Mapira will likely keep his place with defenders Nickson Mwase, Maxwell Paipi, Hardy Ng’andu and Innocent Shema providing cover at the back.
Without Davie, veteran striker Atusaye Nyondo and Adiel Kaduya are likely to start upfront.
On a good day, Chinsinsi Maonga and Duncan Nyoni can cause plenty of problems to Wanderers defence.
Wanderers Coach Mark Harrison said he anticipates a tough match against Silver this afternoon.
“We have prepared the best we can due to limited time. It is a big pressure because Silver have a lot of quality. But it is a two-legged affair, we will go for a win so that we can finish them off in the second leg,” Harrison said.
Wanderers have all the players available for selection apart from injured Mphatso Kamanga. Goalkeeper William Thole will be recalled after he was rested against Karonga.
Captain Stanley Sanudi, Lawrence Chaziya, Peter Cholopi will likely start with Wisdom Mpinganjira and Isaac Kaliati operating from the wings.
Francis Mkonda, Felix Zulu and Francisco Madinga will be at the hub whereas Christopher Kumwembe and Gaddie Chirwa are likely to start upfront.
So far, no team has defended the Airtel Top 8 Cup since it was introduced.
The winners of this year’s tournament will pocket K17 million.
