Tusker FC seek to continue upward trajectory with Sofapaka duel

• Tusker can move to second with victory at Kasarani
• The two sides played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg
• Tusker are on a run of six unbeaten matches

Tusker FC will play away to Sofapaka FC at the Kasarani Annex on Friday afternoon, looking to continue their upward trajectory that has seen them win four of their last six matches.

The FKF Premier League defending champions have scaled up to sixth in the standings and a win on Friday afternoon will take them all the way to second spot, pending other matches over the weekend.

The brewers are high in confidence with goalkeeper Patrick Matasi optimistic they can bag all three points against the side which held them to a 0-0 draw when they met in the first leg.

Matasi has been a key component of the Tusker FC squad, having kept clean sheets in all the six matches they have been undefeated. He has so far kept eight clean sheets in 10 matches, since making his first start in the league against Batoto ba Mungu in the first leg.

“We were playing well and losing because of conceding easy goals and I just stirred up the boys and told them that let’s first work on conceding goals. I said that we should not concede in games and that was our starting point,” Matasi said in an interview with the club’s website.

Tusker FC goalkeeper Patrick Matasi

He added; “I know that in this team we have scorers and if we can keep a clean sheet, there is a high chance we will get a goal. These simple fundamentals have worked. We have been compact as a team, worked together and everyone is going an extra mile to assist the team get good results,”

Looking forward to the game against Sofapaka Matasi said; “It is another big match for us and we hope for the best. We have prepared well because we have had enough time to rest since our last game last week Wednesday and everyone is positive and hungry for those three points.”

“Sofapaka is not an easy team to play against. When we played them in the first leg, which was my first match of the season, I noted that they play a lot of direct balls. If we can deny them those spaces to run and distribute the balls, we will make it easier for ourselves and control the game better.”

This will be the 27th meeting between Tusker FC and Sofapaka in the FKF Premier League since they were promoted to the top tier in 2009. Of the 26 previous encounters, Sofapaka holds a slight advantage having won nine matches while the brewers have been victorious six times.

Tusker midfielder Kevin Okoth strudes away from Sofapaka’s Sunday Ikekhai during a past league meeting

Eleven of the remaining fixtures ended in draws. A total of 71 goals have been scored in these 26 matches, Tusker scoring 36 while Sofapaka have scored 35.

The first leg encounter between these two sides ended in a 0-0 draw at the Ruaraka Complex. Last season, Tusker plucked four points off Batoto ba Mungu, winning the second leg 2-1 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Kasarani Annex.

Tusker’s biggest victory in this fixture was in July 2015 with a 5-0 victory, while the heaviest loss was in April 2014, a 4-2 defeat.

While Tusker are angling for a second spot push, 10^th placed Sofapaka who have won only one of their last five matches are looking to keep a positive run, having beaten Wazito 2-1 two weeks ago.

Head coach Ken Odhiambo says the team has been struggling to get results due to inefficiency in the final third, but notes they have worked on it.

“One of the reason contributing to the inconsistent show is lack of enough punch in the final third. We have been working on it in training and tested the effectiveness of the drills against Sharks. It worked to perfection and I encourage them to replicate the same against Tusker,” he said.

Sofapaka will miss the services of Geoffrey Ojunga and Brandon Obiero for the tie while Tusker will be without Daniel Sakari who is still nursning an injury. Midfielder Clyde Senaji is also out of the match after picking up a knock on his knee.