After second placed Zesco United failed to go top on Wednesday, an opportunity has opened for Zanaco to try and dislodged Prison Leopards from top spot of the 2020/2021FAZ Super Division table this Friday.
Third placed Zanaco hosts 15th positioned Green Buffaloes on January 22 in a Lusaka derby at Sunset Stadium.
Zanaco face Buffaloes 48 hours after Zesco lost 1-0 at home in Ndola to mid-table side Nkwazi that saw them miss a great opportunity to come into this weekend’s round 14 fixtures as leaders.
The seven-time champions have 21 points, one behind Zesco and two less than Prison.
Zanaco return to action after a fortnight off since beating Kabwe Warriors 2-1 away in their Midlands derby at Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu Stadium in Kabwe.
Zanaco coach Chris Kaunda admitted that the pressure was on the old guard to stay in touch with Prison who are seemingly punching above their weight following their promotion this season with five wins and one defeat in their last six games alone.
“You can see that Prison Leopards who are straight from the National Division One league are doing very well. They are pushing everyone and they are making us think,” Kaunda said.
“Teams that were thinking Prison Leopards is a small team but now we are watching them and saying; ‘What is it they are doing? How do we handle them?’ because they also want to win the league.
“Everyone wants to win the league but let’s see what happens at the end of the day.”
A win over struggling Buffaloes will see Zanaco take an overnight lead until Prison visit Lumwana Radiants this Saturday.
“Of course everyone would like to be on top but it is not a simple league, it’s an open league and you can see that if you make one mistake you can pay, so for us we have to stay focused and see what happens at the end of the season,” Kaunda said.
All the best to them …the ball is in their hands
We wish all the Team the best
We wish them the best of luck as they play the game