Lawrence Moyo

THE remaining unbeaten records in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League come under severe tests as leaders MWOS host bitter rivals Scottland at Ngoni while TelOne welcome FC Platinum at Ascot tomorrow.

MWOS are at home to a Scottland side that pipped them to the 2024 Northern Region Soccer League title in dramatic fashion and coach, Lloyd “Samaita” Mutasa, says there MUST be a winner at Ngoni tomorrow.

The blockbuster fixture has already been sold out and the hosts are now arranging for fans to watch the match Live on ZTN at Katanga Rank in Norton, calling the gathering a “Watch Party”.

It is the first time in Castle Lager Premier Soccer League history that there have been pre-match ticket sales.

Scottland, who collected four points in their two NRSL matches against MWOS last season, have arguably the strongest squad in the Premiership and have the potential to hand Mutasa’s charges their first defeat of the season.

TelOne have been one of the dark horses in the title race and have what it takes to end FC Platinum’s unbeaten start to the campaign.

A fortnight ago, TelOne almost handed MWOS their first loss of the season, but leading scorer Washington Navaya fluffed a second half penalty while leading 2-1, lost two players to red cards and then scrambled a 2-2 draw.

MWOS go into the match with the second best strike force with 16 goals from 13 matches while Scottland currently have the best defence in the league having conceded just four goals in 12 completed matches.

They are yet to concede more than one goal in a match.

Scottland have kept five clean sheets in a row with former Ngezi Platinum goalkeeper, Nelson Chadya, in top form.

MWOS are banking on the exploits of striker Billy Vheremu, who has been in form, especially at Ngoni.

With all the stars at his disposal, Tonderai Ndiraya has had the luxury of being unpredictable when it comes to his starting line-up.

However, Mutasa says they are working to stop Ndiraya’s system rather than focus on the individual stars that he has.

“I have watched Scottland in their matches against Triangle and Simba Bhora, What is clear is that they do not have a predictable line-up because they can start with the likes of (Mthokozisi) Msebe or have the likes Walter Musona and Khama Billiat starting and this keeps changing.

“So, we are not focusing on individual players.

“We have an idea of the system that Ndiraya uses and that is what we have been working on, which means we ought to be ready for whoever is in their line-up on the day,” said Mutasa.

There has been pressure in the build-up of the game and the selling out of tickets only compounds the challenges facing both sets of coaches in preparation for the big game tomorrow.

For Mutasa, the pressure is to avoid defeat at all cost as this will see Scottland go above them and possibly assume leadership on the log standings.

“We have been preparing very well for the game. Our mission is simple and that is to keep our unbeaten record intact.

“We just want to collect three points but we know it is not going to be easy. They (Scottland) also want to win but, for me, there must be a winner, A draw should be a last resort.

“We are at home and we must win to stay top of the league. We don’t want to give the advantage to Scottland as we will now be banking on other teams to beat them, we have to do it ourselves to stay in control. We must get the job done by ourselves.”

MWOS are yet to beat Scottland in a league match.