Africa-Press – Tanzania. YOUNG African SC will be seeking to keep their slim chances of winning the Mainland Premier League title alive, as they face JKT Tanzania at the Jamhuri Stadium in Dodoma today.
Yanga have five games to play before this season comes to a close on July 18th, this year with their final match facing Dodoma Jiji at Jamhuri Stadium in Dodoma.
The Jangwani Street side sit on second place with 58 points after 28 matches, only one point above third placed Azam FC, who are also fighting hard to finish the marathon on the second slot too.
The Chamazi based giants have so far pocketed 57 points from 29 outings hence anything can happen en route to the finishing line of the campaign.
Yanga are three points behind league leaders and defending champions Simba, who have three matches in hand.
A win today, will see the Jangwani Street outfit tie on 61 points with Simba but the later will maintin their firm grip of the top spot on superior goal difference –48 for Simba against24 for Yanga.
The Reds have netted 58 goals conceding ten, while Yanga have scored 41 goals and conceded 17.
Yanga have already arrived in Dodoma ready for the match and they were invited to attend ongoing National Assembly budged session yesterday.
Yanga will enter into the match in a backdrop of poor results in their previous encounter which ended in a barren draw against Namungo FC at Majaliwa Stadium in Ruangwa, Lindi region.
Ahead of the battle, Yanga Head Coach Tunisian Nasreddine Nabi has expressed his concern on his team’s blunt striking force.
“We’ve not been so clinical in front of the goal; this is a big challenge which the technical bench is trying to sort.
“The team has been creating hosts of scoring chances but failed to turn them into goals,”Nabi said, insisting that they must improve for the remaining matches.
However, Nabi said they are working on the problem and he is hopefully that changes will be seen in today’s encounter.
Yanga Information Officer Hassan Bumbuli said that they are still determined to win this season’s league title.
“This game is very important because if we win, it will strengthen our quest to win the league title,” he said.
On the other hand, JKT Tanzania Head Coach, Abdallah Mohammed told the ‘Daily News’ that they are well prepared for today’s game and are aware that the match will be tough.
“We are well prepared to face Yanga; the match will not be easy …it will certainly be difficult. We know Yanga, they are a tough team and we respect them.
This suggests that we will be cautious,” he said. JKT Tanzania are placed 12th after playing 29 games where they have collected 33 points in which they have won nine games, six draws and lost 14 matches.
The first round encounter at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on November 28th last year saw Yanga winning 1-0.
