GPL Preview: Kotoko travel to WAFA, AshGold battle Medeama

WAFA vs Kotoko

This promises to be a very interesting encounter as Kotoko travel to Sogakope to face WAFA. WAFA who are coming off a very disappointing defeat to Legon Cities in the last round of fixtures will be looking to bounce back against the Porcupine Warriors. Midfielder Augustine Boakye is likely to return to the WAFA setup after missing the loss to Legon Cities. Kotoko are gaining some momentum on the local scene and their impressive 2-0 win against Liberty Professionals last week will give them some confidence heading into this weekend’s encounter away at WAFA. Coach Johnson Smith will be hoping key man Kwame Poku as well as Fabio Gama, who impressed at Liberty Professionals, will be up to the task on Saturday.

Liberty Professionals vs Ebusua Dwarfs

Liberty Professionals will be back at home this weekend as they play host to Ebusua Dwarfs on Saturday at the Carl Reindorf Park. The Scientific Soccer Lads have an impressive home record this season having not lost a game in Dansoman and they will be hoping to build on that record against a very unpredictable Ebusua Dwarfs side. The away side themselves have been decent on the road in recent games having won at Legon Cities and drawn away at Accra Great Olympics. Coach Ernest Thompson Quartey will hope that his Ebusua Dwarfs side can come up with the goods against Liberty Professionals to help them move up the Ghana Premier League table.

Inter Allies vs Great Olympics

Inter Allies have endured a very difficult start to this GPL season, they lie 16th in the table and they will be keen on turning around their fortunes against Great Olympics today. A 1-0 loss to Berekum Chelsea in their last fixture means that the pressure is on Inter Allies to respond as they play in front of their home crowd against Olympics. Accra Great Olympics will be playing their first game under Yaw Preko who has replaced the now-indisposed Annor Walker as head coach of the Dade Boys. Great Olympics will be looking to get back their top four status after their 2-1 loss to Ashanti Gold last week meant that they dropped out of the leading quartet. This game will definitely be a feisty one, as two local rivals look to take home all three points.

Bechem United vs Dreams FC

Dreams FC will be buoyed by their first win in 5 games as they defeated Ebusua Dwarfs at home in the last round of games. New head coach Vladislav Viric will need to keep his side focused as they travel to face to Bechem United who are second in the standings. Bechem United also have an impressive unbeaten home record to call upon as they have dropped just two points this season at the Nana Gyeabour Park this campaign. Bechem were nowhere near their best as they drew 1-1 with King Faisal last week and they will be looking to rediscover some of their form this weekend against Dreams FC.

Hearts of Oak vs Eleven Wonders

Hearts of Oak will be looking to take all three points against Eleven Wonders after they failed to do so against Elmina Sharks in their last game. Kosta Papic’s side may see several key players return to the side this weekend as Emmanuel Nettey, Mamane Lawali and Nurudeen Abdul Aziz all resumed training this week. Eleven Wonders will try to banish memories of their last visit to the Accra Sports Stadium which ended in a disappointing loss to Inter Allies. The Techiman-based side will be looking to Salifu Ibrahim who has had a very good season as well as players like Frank Amankwah and Rashid Mohammed to help push the team to victory against what will be a very tough Hearts of Oak side.

Karela vs Berekum Chelsea

Karela United will be coming off a disappointing 3-1 loss to Eleven Wonders and will look to get back to winning ways in their matchweek 9 encounter. Their opponents, however, will be full of confidence as they travel to face Karela, Berekum Chelsea were victorious in their matchweek 8 encounter against Inter Allies and will look to continue that encouraging run of form against Karela.

Ashanti Gold vs Medeama

Ashanti Gold fans are much more content seeing their team sitting top of the league table but the hard work is far from done as they play host this week to Medeama SC. The Miners were impressive in their last outing, a 2-1 victory against Accra Great Olympics. Medeama have not always been their freeflowing selves this season but their 2-1 victory against Aduana Stars this weekend would have been cherished by the Medeama faithful and it will make for a very interesting match up as they face Ashanti Gold this weekend.

Aduana Stars vs Legon Cities

Coach Bashir Hayford has not had the desired effect on this Legon Cities side yet but he will be content with the fact that they will be going into this game against Aduana Stars on the back of a victory against WAFA. There is still a lot of work to be done however but it will be important to maintain that positive feeling in the squad and that can be done effectively with a win against Aduana Stars. Aduana will also be looking to rally after they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat by Medeama last week.

King Faisal vs Elmina Sharks

King Faisal who lie bottom of the GPL table will face Elmina Sharks this weekend. King Faisal have had a terrible start to the season and they have only managed to pick up 6 points from a possible 24 up to this point. They will play host to an Elmina Sharks side which let a lead slip last weekend to Hearts of Oak and will look to be more ruthless this time against their opponents.