UGANDA PREMIER LEAGUE 

The Date: January 6th, 2024

The Contest: Vipers SC vs. Maroons FC

The Time: 7pm

The Venue: St Mary’s Stadium

Vipers SC will push further their hunt for the 2024/25 Uganda Premier League championship, when they host Maroons FC at the St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende under floodlights, on Monday.
 
The Venoms come into the game on the back of a narrow, yet hugely important 1-0 victory over the stubborn UPDF FC at the Bombo Military Grounds, which stamped our hold onto the summit.

At the top, Vipers have accumulated 31 points after 14 matches, one ahead of runners-up NEC FC, who edged Mbarara City 1-0 on Saturday. 

We are currently on a 13-game unbeaten run, with our last defeat coming against NEC in the first match of the season. However, we’ve not managed a win in the last home games, picking a point in each of them. 

Vipers take on a Maroons side that hasn’t lost in the last two league games, winning each of them. They have picked three wins and one draw as well as a loss in their last five games.

Co-coach Fred Muhumuza has indicated that they’ll need to manage the recovery of the players, so that they can compete against Maroons.

“We have a game on Monday, and it’s important that we manage the fatigue and recovery of the players. We want to have them compete against Maroons because its a big game.”

Playmaker Allan Okello, who netted against UPDF on Friday, has underlined that the team is fully focused on winning all the games as they come.

“We need to win all the games no matter how we play, because the points win you the title. We hope to rectify all the mistakes made previously to ensure we win the coming game.”

“In our next game, we have to fight, have coordination as a team, work hard, and be together. The unity we have as a team, everyone motivating the other and the fans, we need all these to keep winning.”

Meanwhile, the Prison Warders, who pose a massive threat against the big teams, sit fourth with 22 points in 14 matches.

The last encounter between Vipers and Maroons at Kitende ended in a one-all stalemate, with Milton Karisa grabbing our goal, while Darius Ojok netted for the guests.

Vipers and Maroons have drawn each of their previous three matches, projecting at a tight contest tomorrow.

Skipper Milton Karisa holds an excellent record against the Prison Warders, as he has scored six times in the past five encounters.

Vipers v Maroons: Head-To-Head

Meetings: 18
Vipers Wins: 11
Draws: 07
Losses: 0
Goals For: 29
Against: 09
Points: 40

Team News:

Forward Yunus Sentamu is suspended for this encounter having accumulated three yellow cards while defender Derrick Ndahiro is out after getting a red card in our last outing.

Ghanaian Fumador Asiwome and Angolan Pedro Sukuya are both still out with respective injury problems.

Defender Nicholas Wadada is back in the squad having overcome an abdominal pain that kept him out of the game against UPDF FC on Friday last week.

Goalkeeper Denis Kiggundu who has been out of the squad after contracting malaria, is back training but this match comes early for him.