Jackpot Question: Can Gor Mahia make it three wins in a row?
Gor Mahia coach Bobby Williamson
This will be the big elephant in the pitch when the club hosts Karuturi Sports at City Stadium this afternoon.
Victory will particularly be important for the club currently perched at the top of the standings as they will become the first team to hit the 30-point mark. At the moment, Gor have 29 points and will reach 32 if they manage to get over Karuturi.
Gor go into this match on the back of two convincing wins against Chemelil Sugar and Western Stima where they registered 2-0 margins on both occasions.
This is expected to be a great motivator as they go for the third win in a row.
Apart from a good record, it is worth noting that Gor have lost only once at City Stadium since the season started when they were beaten 2-0 by former Kenyan Premier League ( KPL) champions Ulinzi.
This is likely to work in Gor’s favour coupled with the fact that they are assured of a strong backing from their loyal fans.
Their two top players Paul Kiongera and Rama Salim have been scoring at will and, going into this match with such a strong hunger for goals, they are likely to be on the scoring sheet once again.
Gor must, however, guard against the pressure to win at all costs as this is likely to impact negatively on them.
It happened on the last day of last season when they failed to go past Thika United to be denied the 2012 title.
For Karuturi beating Gor this afternoon will be a major result likely to turn around their seemingly lost cause.
Karuturi have been struggling even at home and failed to go past Sony Sugar last weekend after the match ended in a barren draw. This is something that will put pressure on coach James Omondi.
In another match to be played at City Stadium today, Tusker, fresh from winning the 2013 KPL Top Eight tournament, host Kakamega Homeboyz hoping to revive their league title hopes.
Tusker have lost their last two league matches, something that put a lot of pressure on coach Robert Matano but this was defused after winning the KPL top eight title. But he must do even better on the league front considering that he handles a club that can be very impatient as far as results are concerned.
Tusker beat Homeboyz 4-1 in the first leg played at Bukhungu Stadium four weeks ago, but the result will count for nothing in a second leg that has so far thrown up some unexpected results.
By Gilbert Wandera, The Standard
