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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
FALTERING giants Highlanders will be hoping to rise from their slumber and stop the high-flying Dynamos who will be hunting for their seventh consecutive Castle Lager Premier Soccer League win at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday.

The odds favour Dynamos as Highlanders’ form has been poor for a number of games now.

Bosso go into the battle smarting from four consecutive league losses to ZPC Kariba (2-0), Tsholotsho FC (1-0), Ngezi Platinum Stars (3-0) and 1-0 to Chapungu last Sunday.

Since the start of the second half of the season, Bosso have only managed one victory, a 2-0 win over Shabanie Mine on Match Day 19.

From a possible 21 points, Highlanders have only picked four points and this has increased pressure on coach Erol Akbay and his charges.

The poor run has also claimed the scalp of assistant coach Amini Soma-Phiri, who was forced to resign last week after the Bulawayo giants were hammered 3-0 by Ngezi Platinum Stars and Akbay alleged sabotage by his assistant.

The Dutchman, who has never lost to Dynamos in a league match, said his charges were geared up for the big game and spent yesterday’s training session working on strikers.

Akbay guided Highlanders in back-to-back wins over Dynamos, ending DeMbare’s nine-year dominance over Bosso. Highlanders beat Dynamos 2-0 in Harare and 2-1 at Barbourfields Stadium.

Their earlier fixture of 2017 was decided in the boardroom, with the league’s disciplinary committee handing Dynamos maximum points on a 3-0 score line after the match ended prematurely after 42 minutes on May 14.  The match was abandoned following a disputed Dynamos equaliser as Bosso fans bayed for the blood of second assistant referee Thomas Kusosa.

Cameroonian striker, Christian Epoupa, appeared to have scored from an offside position after the ball had deflected off a Bosso player.

Akbay believes Sunday’s game will live up to its billing.

“These kind of big games are important to everyone, the club, the coaches, players and fans. The attitude of the players on match day will decide who will win the game. This week you will see a different Highlanders because the players really surprised me at training today, their attitude was something else and they showed that they want to play. We spent the better part working on strikers and in seven minutes they had scored two goals. I know that was at training, but looking at the players’ attitude, I think if they take it to Harare on Sunday and we will get a positive result,” Akbay said.

“Remember that when they came to play us they were not in their best form and even last season they were down, but they raised their game when they faced us so it is going to be a big game,” he said.

Maybe Akbay could be reading too much into the build-up to the abandoned May encounter when Dynamos came to Bulawayo having only won two out of five games. From a possible 15 points, DeMbare had amassed just seven.

Highlanders then were on fire, having won four out of six games, with 13 points from a possible 18.

This time around, Highlanders have only managed to pick a mere four points from a possible 21, while Dynamos have been enjoying great form, picking 18 points from a possible 21.

Dynamos last lost on July 26 when they were felled 1-3 by FC Platinum in Zvishavane; a result followed by six wins on the trot. About free-scoring Dynamos striker Epoupa, Akbay said: “We don’t plan for a single player, we plan for the whole team.”

Fixtures

Today: Ngezi Platinum v Harare City (Baobab, 3PM, SuperSport)

Tomorrow: FC Platinum v How Mine (Mandava), Black Rhinos v Bulawayo City (Rufaro, 3PM, SuperSport), Chicken Inn v Yadah FC (Hartsfield),

Chapungu v Shabanie Mine (Ascot), Tsholotsho FC v ZPC Kariba (Dulivhadzimu)

Sunday: Bantu Rovers v Caps United (Hartsfield), Triangle United v Hwange (Gibbo), Dynamos v Highlanders (Rufaro)
— @ZililoR