Azam Uganda Premier League
Vipers SC vs UPDF FC
St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende
Friday, 25-05-2018
Vipers SC will be targeting all three points that will see them win the 2017/18 Azam Uganda Premier League title, when they host relegation threatened UPDF.
The Venoms lead the standing by two points going into match day 30 of the league and will know that any slip ups may see KCCA who are second, leap frog them (Vipers) atop the summit.
Migual da Costa’s men celebrated pre-maturely last time round after thrashing Express FC 5-0, thinking KCCA had drawn 1-1 at home to Bul. But when the news that Derrick Nsibambi has scored a late winner at Lugogo, they now need a win to guarantee a maiden UPL title in three years.
“Yes we celebrated after the last game but only because we thought KCCA had drawn, said Vipers coach Miguel da Costa.
“We know it is just a matter of three points and we win the league and that is the motivation we take into the UPDF game.
“It is not going to be easy because they (UPDF) is fighting to retain its league status.
“All in all, we are confident going into the last game and i hope we win because the championship means so much to this club and special group of players.
Da Costa is expected to be at the bench on Friday despite facing a disciplinary hearing following the comments made on Tuesday following KCCA’s last minute winner.
The Venoms saw Steven Mukwala miss the Express FC game following a knock. The U-20 striker took part in the last training but is unlikely to feature on Friday.
Other than him, the rest of the squad is fully fit.
For UPDF, they start the day only a point away from the relegation zone and faliour to win the game may see them relegated at final whistle sound.
The Army side know that this situation should not have been like this had they not fielded an eligible player in their second round win over Bul which resulted into a three point loss.
They may also stay up even if that lost to Vipers but that would also require both Proline and Express losing their Friday fixtures.
Match Stats:
Head to Head.
The reverse fixture between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw at the Bombo Barracks stadium last November.
Vipers SC.
Vipers enter the game on a run of 20 games in all competitions, winning 17 and drawing the other three.
In the league, the Venoms had home 16 consecutive games without testing defeat (W13 D3). The last time that were defeated was in 28-11-2018, in a 2-1 loss at home to URA.
At the St. Mary’s stadium, Vipers have won all of their last eight league fixtures, scoring at least two goals in every match throughout that period.
In the same period, the Venoms have scored a league high 23 goals whilst conceding only five at the other end.
Daniel Muzei Sserunkuma has scored a league high 16 league goals this season, 10 of which have come in the second round including a hat trick against Express in the last game.
UPDF FC.
UPDF goes into the game with a single win in their last six league games (D1 L4)
They have registered only one victory on the road this season, losing 10 of their fixtures and drawing three. That is a tally of six points accumulated out of a possible 42.
Away to the top three, they have lost all of their two games so far, losing by a score line of 2-0 to both KCCA and SC Villa who occupy second and third spot respectively
