Saturday
Yadah v Highlanders (Heart Stadium), Bulawayo Chiefs v Manica Diamonds (Luveve), Simba Bhora v ZPC Kariba (Wadzanayi), Ngezi Platinum Stars v CAPS United (Baobab)
Sunday
Hwange v Bikita Minerals (Colliery), Dynamos v Greenfuel (Rufaro), TelOne v FC Platinum (Bata), Chegutu Pirates v Arenel Movers (Baobab), Chicken Inn v Herentals College (Luveve).
IN a total of 144 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches that have been played so far, seven braces have been witnessed after CAPS United gunslinger William Manondo scored twice when they beat noisy new boys Chegutu Pirates last weekend.
It was Manondo’s second brace of the 2024 season. Interestingly, the campaign still awaits a hat-trick after producing 270 goals. In Week 16 action there were two own goals taking to seven the number of own goals this season, a campaign that has seen Ngezi Platinum Stars’ Obriel Chirinda and Marvin Sibanda (Highlanders) score in consecutive weeks to move to two goals alongside Liberty Masveure Bikita of Bikita Minerals.
In the past weekend, Herbert Maruwa posted his first win as head coach of Telone FC, beating Arenel Movers 2-1. Three games ended in 1-0 wins, with all three winning teams being home teams: FC Platinum vs Simba Bhora, Highlanders vs Hwange and Green Fuel vs Yadah.
Five teams won at home: Caps United, Green Fuel, Highlanders, FC Platinum, and Bikita Minerals. Away teams scored a total of six goals during Match Day 16, with Chegutu Pirates and Chicken Inn scoring one goal each and Ngezi Platinum and TelOne scoring two goals each. Bulawayo Chiefs’ draw against ZPC Kariba was their seventh draw of the season.
Dynamos’ draw against Manica Diamonds was their ninth draw of the season, while Chegutu Pirates and Hwange suffered their ninth defeat of the season. FC Platinum has the highest number of wins this season with ten victories, while ZPC Kariba has the highest number of drawn matches with ten draws.
Meanwhile, the local elite football league action will on Saturday reach the halfway mark with fixtures set to go ahead despite Warriors’ involvement in the Cosafa Cup contest. Bulawayo football giants Highlanders will be without the services of their improving goal minder Raphael Pitisi and midfielder Mckinnon Mushore, when they take on Yadah Stars at the Heart Stadium. Pitisi and Mushore are part of the Warriors squad in the Cosafa tournament in South Africa that began on Thursday.
“I think from our side in terms of preparation everything has gone according to plan. As you are aware, we are planning without two players who are currently with the national team (Pitisi and Mushore), we still want to stay focused and forget about the result that we managed to get against Hwange after going through a phase that saw us fail to pick up maximum points. We have also done well when playing away, we will need to take advantage of that,” said Bosso head coach Kelvin Kaindu.
Log leaders, FC Platinum will engage in an away fixture against TelOne at Gweru’s Bata Stadium. In their previous fixture, FC Platinum edged Simba Bhora 1-0 while TelOne came from a goal behind to beat bottom-placed Arenel Movers.