Uganda Premier League: Second round starts today
Jan 29, 2019
Police FC will host Nyamityobora FC in the early kickoff while the Tooro United vs Express FC match will start at 4:30pm.
STARTIMES UGANDA PREMIER LEAGUE: SECOND ROUND
Tuesday fixtures
Police FC | v | Nyamityobora FC |
Tooro United | v | Express FC |
By Joseph Kizza
@joekizza
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The second round of this season's StarTimes Uganda Premier League will get underway later today with two games on the card.
Police FC will host Nyamityobora FC in the earlier duel - at 4pm - while the Tooro United vs Express FC match will begin 30 minutes later.
Police, who have yet to register a win this year, will hope to re-establish touch with their fortunes against premier league debutants Nyamityobora, who are third from the base of the table.
On paper, the odds are heaped in favour of eighth-placed Police, and beyond their table placement, Abdallah Mubiru's side will draw more inspiration from their 2-1 win when the two sides met in October.
Victory will elevate the 2005 premier league champions to fifth or fourth place - depending on the number of goals scored - pending the matches involving teams currently ahead of them.
Meanwhile, Nyamityobora will not claw out of the drop zone even if they win, but victory will no doubt provide the much needed pedestal of hope for James Odoch's side in the dreaded relegation battle.
Defeat, on the other hand, will plunge the Mbarara-based side further down the abyss. With 15th-placed Ndejje University FC level on points (nine) and rock-bottom Paidha Black Angels on seven points, the margins are narrow - and any positive result from now on should underline the meaning of premier league life and death.
Tooro aim for 100% 2019 start
In the other game of the day, Tooro United will hope to maintain their winning start to the year with a third successive victory against Express FC.
Their last meeting - at the end of October last year - saw then-hosts Express bag the points in a 2-0 victory. Can the six-time premier league champions make it back-to-back wins against Tooro United?
But it won't come easy at Buhinga Stadium in Fort Portal, where the hosts have only been beaten once this season. In fact, four of Tooro United's five wins this season have been at home.
They were last in league action 19 days ago - and it was a 2-0 win over Bright Stars FC.
Tooro United, 10th on the log, are just one point adrift of seventh-placed Express and victory for the hosts will see them leapfrog the Red Eagles and URA SC, and possibly BUL FC if the goal margin is huge enough.
And if Express do manage to pick up a win of four goals or more on the road, they will end the day in fourth place, displacing Onduparaka FC.
Kefa Kisala's side will feel rejuvenated by the arrival of new players at the club. Brian Umony, Ivan Ocholit, Sadiq Ssekyembe, Goffin Geoffrey Oyirwoth and Frank 'Zaga' Tumwesigye were unveiled a couple of days ago. And club chairman Kiryowa Kiwanuka believes they will "bring it [the club] back to its past glory one block at a time".
Generally, while Tuesday's two games will not significantly change the look at the root of the log, they will definitely cause seismic shifts on the opposite end of the table.
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THIS WEEK'S OTHER FIXTURES
Wednesday
Mbarara City | v | KCCA FC |
BUL FC | v | Maroons FC |
Thursday
Paidha Black Angels | v | Ndejje University |
Vipers SC | v | Kirinya-Jinja SSS |
Friday
Bright Stars FC | v | Onduparaka FC |
URA SC | v | SC Villa |