Kumasi- The Ghana football lenses will focus on the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday, as defending league champions, Accra Hearts of Oak square off with bitterest rivals and current league leaders, Asante Kotoko in the biggest game of the first round of the Ghana Premier League (GPL).
Matches between the two most successful clubs in Ghana Football come with all activities in and around the location of the game, and Sunday’s meeting will be no exception.
The clash is a must-watch for every football lover and often boosts economic activities at the match venue.
This time around, 25 per cent of supporters would be filled either in the red-yellow-blue colours of the host or the red and white of the visitors due to Covid-19 Pandemic.
The GPL match day seven game which was initially billed to take place in December was postponed due to Hearts’ participation in the 2021 CAF Champions League.
The match week seven outstanding game would kick-off at 3pm.
This will be the final outstanding match to end the first round of the 2021/22 league season.
Out of the total matches played at Accra sports stadium, Hearts have won 29-times with 99 goals scored, Asante Kotoko with 33-times scored 110 goals and 33 has been draws.
Hearts and Kotoko boast a combined 43 Premier League titles between them.
The porcupine warriors shade the statistic with 23 titles while the Phobians have 20 titles.
As usual, expectations are high with Hearts searching for their first win at their favourite grounds since they 1-0 to Olympics, to boost the climb up the league log.
Asante Kotoko are going into this game with a compact win against Accra Lions last weekend, which gave them confidence to beat their rivals on Sunday to wide up their points tally.
Leading marksman, Frank Mabelle who is leading the top scores chart with 11 goals is in the form of his life, whilst the likes of Moro Ibrahim, Augustine Agyapong and new recruits, Justice Blay and Richmond Lamptey have the capability to make Kotoko’s trip to the capital so easily.
The Phobians have their own problems, and inconsistency has dented their input in recent times.
They have been off-colour and have yet to come out of their painful exit from the CAF champions’ league.
Pressure has increasingly been growing at the doorstep of coach Samuel Boadu, who can not afford any slip especially in a game which the outcome means critical to his continued stay in the club.
The Phobians need the points badly to remain on course for successful defence of their league title last season.
These two key players, Salifu Ibrahim who had an injury in their game against Karela will miss the super clash for Hearts of Oak while Kotoko Starman Isaac Oppong who has been key to the Kotoko set for the start of the season will also be out of his first super clash due to injury situation in their week six game against King Faisal.
Kotoko lead the league log with 36 points with twelve points above Hearts of Oak who are currently on the eight positions with 24 points.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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