NamibiaSport

Jerome Louis

Log leaders Ramblers will face their toughest test yet this season when they face Black Africa at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Friday at 20h00 in a Namibia Premier League Round 8 encounter that is set to be a thriller.

The log leaders are still unbeaten after seven matches and will be hoping to maintain that run. Black Africa on the other hand have lost two matches and drawn once in their seven outings.

Black Africa is currently third on the log with 13 points while Ramblers is on top with 17 points.

Ricardo Mannetti, the coach of Black Africa, said that they would go into the match with the aim of winning.

“In order to be the best you need to beat the best, and Ramblers are currently the team to beat because they are in form and on top of the log,” Mannetti said.

“We are going to give it our best, because we know we are playing a team which is one of the best. They have a lot of experienced players and some youngsters but they have managed to balance the two and come up with a winning combination.”

Mannetti however said that Ramblers had not been under pressure much this season and their ability to handle the pressure would be crucial to their title aspirations.

“One would like to see how they handle the pressure of losing a match. The question is whether they will be able to move on, because it’s easy to get to the top. The hard part is staying there,” Mannetti said.

Ramblers coach, Christy Guruseb, was also confident of his team’s chances against Black Africa, who have been billed as the number one contender for the title.

“I am sure we can pull out a positive result at the end of the match. Black Africa has the budget, support from the fans and the players to win the league, but I can tell you that my players are focussed and determined to win this match,” Guruseb said.

On Saturday, Tigers will play their second match under new coach Ronnie Kanalelo against SKW at the Sam Nujoma Stadium at 17h00.

Tigers are currently seventh on the log standings with nine points after they won their last match against Blue Waters 1-0. SKW also won their last match when they beat Civics 2-0 and are second on the log with 14 points.

Kanalelo said they won against Blue Waters because he had selected the best team available to him.

“SKW is a different team, so we will use a different approach against them. We have identified their weaknesses and we are going to exploit that,” Kanalelo said.

“There is still a lot of work to be done especially when it comes to the basic application of the game,” he added.

“Some of my players are good at what they do but they lack tactical application. We have a very good defence but struggle to control the ball when we have possession and that is what I am going to work on.”

In other matches on Saturday, eighth placed Oshakati City will host ninth placed newcomers Blue Boys at the Uukwangula Stadium at 15h00, while bottom of the log Mighty Gunners will host fifth placed Blue Waters at the Paresis Showgrounds at the same time.

In another crucial encounter, Eleven Arrows host Orlando Pirates at the Kuisebmund Stadium at 13h00 on Sunday. The match was originally supposed to take place on Saturday but has been shifted due to another event taking place at the Kuisebmund Stadium.