daniel chigunwe
Lawrence Moyo
Head Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE 2023 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign is promising to be the most intriguing as there are no clear favourites either end of the log standings.
Teams occupying the top seven positions after Week 21 have strong chances of winning the league championship while teams from position eight and below are all in the relegation equation.
Former champions CAPS United occupy eighth position with 26 points from 21 matches but find themselves closer to bottom-placed Black Rhinos (16 points) than they are to the leading team, Highlanders (41 points).
CAPS United are just 10 points above Black Rhinos and 15 behind leaders Highlanders.
What makes CAPS United’s situation worrying for the Makepekepe faithful is that they have the worst record in the Premiership over the last four weeks, managing just two points from a possible 12.
CAPS United have not won a match in the second half of the 2023 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
Lloyd Chitembwe’s men have dropped 10 points in one month and failed to find the target — they have ZERO goals in the last four Premiership matches.
The last time CAPS United scored a goal was in the 1-2 defeat to Herentals on July 29 while the ensuing four matches in the second half of the season have not yielded a goal.
CAPS United’s second half of the season started with a 0-2 loss against title chasing Manica Diamonds and then a 0-1 loss to another title chasing side, Ngezi Platinum.
In the next two matches against teams below them, ZPC Kariba and Black Rhinos ended in goalless draws.
There are just three teams that have Not yet won in the second half of the season — CAPS United, Bulawayo Chiefs, who have two draws and two defeats, and Luke Masomere’s ZPC Kariba, who have managed three draws in four matches.
CAPS United stand out as one of ONLY two teams without a goal in the second half of the season, the other being ZPC Kariba.
CLEAN SHEETS
Dynamos are the ONLY team yet to concede a goal in the second half of the season after four games, keeping out strikers from Hwange (0-0), Sheasham (2-0), Simba Bhora (0-0) and Cranborne Bullets (1-0).
ON TARGET
Only Manica Diamonds have average at least two goals a game in the second half of the season with eight goals from four matches.
Only SIX of 18 Premiership teams have averaged at least one goal per game in the second half of the season — Manica Diamonds (8), Ngezi Platinum (6), Herentals (6), FC Platinum (5), Yadah (4) and Triangle (4).
FIRING BLANKS
Only CAPS United and ZPC Kariba have fired blanks in the four matches of the second half so far.
UNBEATEN RUN
Only THREE teams are unbeaten in the second half of the season –Manica Diamonds, Dynamos and Herentals.
Manica Diamonds have the Best record in the second half of the season with 10 points from a possible 12 after three victories against CAPS United (2-0), Triangle (3-1) and Green Fuel (2-0) and a draw with Herentals (1-1).
Herentals have had an unbeaten start to the second half of the season with two wins against Green Fuel (1-0) and Ngezi Platinum (2-1) and draws against Triangle (2-2) and Manica Diamonds (1-1).
WINLESS RUN
Apart from CAPS United, ZPC Kariba and Bulawayo Chiefs are the Only teams without victory in the second half of the season.
ZPC Kariba’s four matches to date have yielded three goalless draws against Highlanders, CAPS United and Bulawayo Chiefs while losing against Triangle (0-1).
Bulawayo Chiefs’ four matches yielded two draws against ZPC Kariba (0-0) and FC Platinum (1-1) and defeats against Black Rhinos (0-2) and Ngezi Platinum (0-1).
WIN OR LOSE
There are only three teams that have Not drawn a match in the four second half matchdays so far –Sheasham, Green Fuel and Ngezi Platinum.
The other 15 teams in the Castle Lager Premiership have drawn at least once in the four games so far.
Green Fuel won two against Yadah (2-0) and Hwange (1-0) while losing the other two against Herentals (0-1) and Manica Diamonds (0-2).
Newcomers Sheasham’s four matches of the second half have yielded two identical victories against Chicken Inn (1-0) and Hwange (1-0) while losing the other two in identical fashion against Dynamos (0-2) and Yadah (0-2).
Ngezi Platinum won the first three matches of the second half, beating Bulawayo Chiefs (1-0), CAPS United (1-0) and Triangle (3-0) while losing to Herentals (1-2).
Second Half of Season
P W D L F A Pts
Manica Diamonds 4 3 1 0 8 2 10
Ngezi Platinum 4 3 0 1 6 3 9
Dynamos 4 2 2 0 3 0 8
Herentals College 4 2 2 0 6 4 8
Chicken Inn 4 2 1 1 3 1 7
Green Fuel 4 2 0 2 3 3 6
Sheasham 4 2 0 2 2 4 6
FC Platinum 4 1 2 1 5 4 5
Cranborne Bullets 4 1 2 1 3 3 5
Simba Bhora 4 1 2 1 3 3 5
Black Rhinos 4 1 1 2 3 3 4
Hwange 4 1 1 2 3 3 4
Yadah 4 1 1 2 4 6 4
Highlanders 4 1 1 2 4 8 4
ZPC Kariba 4 0 3 1 0 3 3
Bulawayo Chiefs 4 0 2 2 1 4 2
CAPS United 4 0 2 2 0 3 2
OVERALL PSL STANDINGS
P W D L F A PTS
H/LANDERS 21 11 8 2 16 8 41
M/DIAMONDS 21 11 6 4 28 12 39
NGEZI 21 11 6 4 27 15 39
DYNAMOS 21 9 9 3 25 8 36
CHICKEN INN 21 9 8 5 24 20 32
FC PLATINUM 21 8 7 6 21 18 31
CAPS UNITED 21 6 8 7 18 16 26
GREEN FUEL 21 7 5 9 17 20 26
B/CHIEFS 21 6 7 8 24 24 25
HWANGE 21 6 6 9 17 20 24
ZPC KARIBA 21 6 6 9 13 24 24
TRIANGLE 21 4 11 6 14 22 23
SHEASHAM 21 4 11 6 10 20 23
S/BHORA 21 4 10 7 15 17 22
YADAH 21 6 3 12 16 29 21
C/BULLETS 21 4 6 11 11 19 18
B/RHINOS 21 3 7 11 11 22 16
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter