Africa-Press – Lesotho. Defending champions Vodacom Premier League champions Bantu are still licking their wounds from a humbling 3-1 defeat to Lioli on Sunday. The loss left Bantu seven points behind leaders Lioli and ‘A Matšo Matebele’ have to quickly shift their focus to another nemesis this weekend in the form of Matlama.
Like Bantu, Matlama go into Sunday’s clash on the back of a disappointing result of their own after they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by newly promoted Limkokwing University last weekend.
Both Bantu and Matlama are at risk of losing ground to Lioli who are on fire with nine wins and no defeats in their opening 11 games. It makes Sunday’s game even more important because three points will keep the winner in touch with ‘Tse Nala’ while the loser will see their title aspirations take a massive blow.
Bantu’s defeat to Lioli this past Sunday was not particularly shocking to many people because despite Lioli’s troubles in recent years, Bantu twice struggled to beat them last season.
‘Tse Nala’ are recharged and motivated under Motheo Mohapi this season and last weekend was probably not a good time for Bantu to face their rivals.
If Bantu lose to Matlama this weekend, however, they risk falling 10 points behind Lioli, which will further complicate their ambitions of defending their title.
In order for Bantu to get anything against second-placed ‘Tse Putsoa’ this weekend, several things will have to change. The first is Bantu’s head-to-head record against Lioli.
Since December 2015, the two teams have met 12 times in the Premier League and the champions have managed to win only three games, with Matlama winning six and the other three ending in a draw.
The last time the two sides met was in March this year and Matlama beat Bantu 2-1 to throw a spanner in the title race although Bantu did manage to hold on to their championship lead.
While Bantu are looking to get back to winning ways and mount a serious title defence, another game that many are looking forward to this weekend is the clash between Linare and Lioli.
Whenever these two clubs meet, sparks fly and this weekend is unlikely to be any different. Sixth-placed Linare did not start the season well and after 11 games, they have only managed to collect 18 points.
The poor start even forced the club to release a statement to calm rumblings among Linare supporters who have voiced their unhappiness with the side’s technical team.
The club has backed Leslie Notši and his team but results have not improved. A defeat to Lioli on Saturday would be a third in a row for Linare after 1-0 and 3-0 defeats to Liphakoe and Lijabatho respectively.
Weekend Fixtures: Saturday LMPS vs CCX (PTC) Naughty vs LDF (Leshoboro stadium) Machokha vs Liphakoe (LCS Ground) Linare vs Lioli (DIFA Leribe) Sunday Lifofane vs LCS (Butha-Buthe) Lijabatho vs LU FC (Morija) Bantu vs Matlama (Mohale’a Hoek) Manonyane vs ACE Maseru (Nyakosoba)
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