GPL Match Preview: Eleven Wonders vs Asante Kotoko, Porcupine Warriors eye win to close gap on top spot

Eleven Wonders will lock horns with Asante Kotoko at the Ohene Ameyaw Park at Techiman on Saturday for this Ghana Premier League fixture.

This is the reverse fixture of a pulsating match day one game played at the Accra Sports Stadium stadium at the onset of the season. The outcome was a 1-1 result that left Asante Kotoko frustrated. The Porcupine Warriors did not play to expected levels but have surely improved since then and given themselves a clear shot at the title.

With a game in hand, Kotoko on 27 points will look at securing a win to inject more belief into their title aspirations as they cannot afford to be left behind in the chase for the ultimate.

On the contrary, Eleven Wonders have been off steam, a trend that saw them lose 4 of their last 7 league matches before the end of the first round.

Currently, they sit just 2 spots and 3 points above the relegation zone and know clearly what they have to do to avoid dropping into the company of the doomed.

Coach Ignatius Osei Fosu will surely do well to psyche his boys for the task ahead against a Kotoko side eager to punish his side.

Both sides have genuine reasons to battle it all out for the maximum points to fulfill their respective ambitions. As Kotoko chase the title, Eleven Wonders is hoping to avoid being entangled in a relegation battle. This should set up the match in a tensed and fiercely competitive atmosphere.

TEAM NEWS

Eleven Wonders lost talisman Ibrahim Salifu to Hearts of Oak during the second transfer window, but the Techiman based side have also reinforced their swaud with some additions. Also, on loan and enterprising Dreams FC attacker Abdul Zakaria Mugeese has also departed for foreign adventures.

Experienced former Kotoko players Alex Asamoah and Amos Frimpong are among the new players who have pitched camp with Ignatius Osei Fosu’s side.

Surely they will be eager to get into the thick of affairs for their new side against their former side.

Asante Kotoko have added players and named a substantive Head Coach during this break. Former Ghana Coach Mariano Barreto has been installed as the club’s new Head Coach and he comes on board with his team of assistants.

After losing Kwame Opoku to a lucrative deal in Algeria, Kotoko have beefed up their squad with the additions of attackers Michael Vinicius (Brazilian), Francis Andy Kumi and Solomon Sarfo Taylor.

These player will be expected to relieve the club of its goal scoring burden which was shouldered singlehandedly by the departed Opoku.

After earning his first senior national team starts, Defender Ismail Ganiyu should feel confident entering this game.

The Porcupine Warriors have Razak Abalora, Imoro Ibrahim and Yusif Mubarik also returning to the side after national team assignments.

PRE-GAME FACTS

There have been fewer than 3 goals scored in total in each of Eleven Wonders’s last 6 games

There have been fewer than 3 goals scored in total in each of Asante Kotoko’s last 4 games

There have been fewer than 3 goals scored in total in each of Eleven Wonders’s last 5 home games

There have been fewer than 3 goals scored in total in each of Asante Kotoko’s last 16 away games

There have been exactly 2 goals in 9 out of 17 Eleven Wonders’s Premier League games this season

There has been exactly 1 goal in 8 out of 16 Asante Kotoko’s Premier League games this season

Eleven Wonders have lost just one of their last 5 home matches (to Dreams FC). Their record stands at 3 wins and 1 draw and 1 defeat.

Eleven Wonders have kept 4 clean sheets in their last 5 league home matches

Asante Kotoko have the league’s best away record having lost just one game during the first round. Their overall awya record this season stands at 4 wins, 4 draws and 1 defeat.

The Porcupine Warriors are yet to concede more than one goal this entire campaign and have the league’s best defensive record.

Asante Kotoko have kept 4 clean sheets in their last 5 away games.