- On Sunday, the pressure will be on Accra Hearts of Oak to avoid a 0-2 start to the season as they make the long trip to the Tarkwa Akoon Park ...
Following a mixed bag of results this past weekend on the opening day of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League season that led to heightened drama in the camp of Accra Hearts of Oak, and the subsequent firing of their head coach, Kim Grant, and the coaches of Karela FC and Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs jumping on to the hot seat immediately following losses at home, the pairings for this weekend have the promise of piling up the pressure on several teams as they look to make amends and forestall a 0-2 start to the young season.
However, ahead of the riveting encounter between the rechristened Wa All Stars, now known as Legon Cities FC and Kumasi Asante Kotoko at the Accra Sports on Friday Night Football, the former, who will be playing hosts have opted to lighten the mood for all and sundry by having Ghanaian dancehall king, Charles Mensah, popularly known as Shatta Wale put up a performance of a lifetime prior to the start of the game. At stake will be the desire of both teams to hold on to their perfect starts to the season. Legon Cities will be seeking to recreate the magic that saw them take a two-goal lead against hosts Liberty FC this past weekend, but not the part that saw them let the advantage slip for a tie as they search for their first win of the season. For Kotoko it will be an attempt to grab their second win of the season as they look to put a not so impressive performance against Eleven Wonders at home behind them. This encounter promises to be no different from past ones, but this time around, the youthfulness of Legon Cities has the coach of Kotoko - Maxwell Konadu - worried, saying in a recent interview – ‘The Legon Cities team is a young team. They have a lot of young players that can run a lot and we are bracing ourselves for the threat they pose.... we will go out there and play our game'. Meanwhile, Legon Cities’ Sulley Saddick who was on target last week and several players including hard tackling defender Suleman Mohammed say they are ready to put the threat of the Porcupine Warriors to sleep. Nothing short of a thrilling encounter awaits the fans in this one. And on Saturday, Tema based Inter Allies will look to put their awful start to the season – a 4-0 shutout annihilation at the hands of Aduana Stars - behind them as they welcome Bechem United to their adopted home for the season – the Accra Sports Stadium. The two sides have always bested each other on their home turf with Inter Allies winning the last meeting before the truncation of the 2018 season. Ahead of the game, whose results will likely be no different from past home encounters, Coach Tony Lokko of Inter Allies, has expressed great optimism for a better performance and he is the backing of his players at home. It will be up to Bechem United to stop their hosts from winning this one.
On Sunday, the pressure will be on Accra Hearts of Oak to avoid a 0-2 start to the season as they make the long trip to the Tarkwa Akoon Park as guests of in form Medeama Stars, who got their season off to a fantastic 3-1 road win at the expense of Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs. Medeama has always played Hearts of Oak tough both at home and away, and interestingly have won two of the last meetings between the two, with Hearts winning one and the other ending in a tie. Medeama has promised their fans a much improved performance from the Dwarfs game as they look forward to making short work of the ailing Phobians. For Hearts of Oak, who will be playing under the tutelage of Coach Emmanuel Odoom who got the nod following the abrupt ouster of Kim Grant, a tough challenge awaits. They will have to up their game to have a shot at winning at Tarkwa where they last won in 2016. Newly promoted King Faisal for now remains an unknown quantity, and on the heels of their 4-1 trashing by Dreams FC will have to play exceedingly well at home to have a shot at winning against a feisty AshantiGold side that will be on the hunt for their second straight win of the season. This will be first Premier League encounter between the two, and the Miners seem to have the advantage despite playing away from home. And on the heels of their stunning lone goal upset of Hearts this past weekend, B. Chelsea will have the chance to go up 2-0 on the season as they welcome Liberty Professionals, whose competitiveness away from home will be put to a severe test.
Also on Sunday, Eleven Wonders will welcome a feisty Dreams FC side ready to prove that the road is no barrier to success, Elmina Sharks will hope to make light work of their nemesis Karela FC as they look to get into the winning column for the first time this season with the latter hoping to wash their stunning lone goal home loss on opening day to WAFA off their boots. The two sides are very familiar with each other having played some captivating games as Division One opponents prior to making it the top-flight division. Accra Gt. Olympics will have the chance to rebound at home as hosts of Aduana Stars., but it will be no easy task for the Dade boys with their guests looking like probable victors in this one. And Ebusua Dwarfs will have to be at their best at the Red Bull Park as they look to avoid a second straight loss against a side that has always had a stellar reputation at home.
Ghana Premier League Week 02 Fixtures
Friday
Legon Cities FC vs. Asante Kotoko - Accra Sports Stadium
Saturday
Inter Allies vs. Bechem United - Accra Sports Stadium
Sunday
Medeama vs. Hearts of Oak - Tarkwa Akoon Park
King Faisal vs. AshantiGold – Kumasi
Berekum Chelsea vs. Liberty Prof. – Berekum
Eleven Wonders vs. Dreams FC – Techiman
Elmina Sharks vs. Karela FC - Elmina
Accra Gt. Olympics vs. Aduana Stars – Accra Sports Stadium
WAFA vs. Ebusua Dwarfs - Sogakope
