UGANDA PREMIER LEAGUE
The Date: September 15, 2024
The Contest: NEC FC vs. Vipers SC
The Time: 6pm (Live on Fufa TV)
The Venue: MTN Omondi Stadium
Six-time Uganda Premier League champions Vipers SC will get their 2024/25 StarTimes Uganda Premier League campaign underway with a short trip across the capital city, as they visit NEC FC at the MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo on Sunday.
In what promises another season of mouthwatering action, the Venoms will be keen on winning the championship which evaded them last season, with SC Villa emerging champions. Vipers, meanwhile, finished third on the log.
It will be head coach Nikola Kavazovic’s maiden game in the Uganda Premier League having joined at the end of the preceding campaign.
The Serbian has anticipated a difficult season where eight teams will compete for the title. Even then, he fancies Vipers to put up a charge to upset the odds.
“It’s going to be a difficult season, with eight or six teams all going in for the title. But we shall fight and make sure we can do something at the end of the season,” Kavazovic told the club media.
About the game tomorrow, Kavazovic was quick to assert that, “the team is progressing well in trying to implement a new style of play.”
“We played each other in the Fufa Super 8, and both teams will definitely know what to expect in the game tomorrow. We’ll try to give a good fight.”
Prior to the start of this season, Vipers eliminated NEC from the Fufa Super 8 tournament at the first round, courtesy of the Away Goals rule, after tying one-all in 180 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, it should be recalled that last season in the league, Vipers were emphatic 4-1 victors over NEC in Kitende, courtesy of Yunus Sentamu and a Fumador Asiwome hat-trick.
However, it ended in a barren stalemate at the MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo in the second round, as both teams attempted to push for glory.
Team News:
Defenders Hilary Mukundane and Grant Matsiko are back to full fitness and will be in the matchday squad.
Goalkeeper Jack Komakech is still some weeks away from a return to training, while Abdul Nsereko is still a long-term absentee after suffering a knee injury.