KPL Week Four Preview: Under Pressure Ulinzi Play Nairobi City Stars, Sofapaka, Chemelil Fight for Top Spot

Two games will be aired Live on television this weekend as the Kenya Premier League enters its fourth week this weekend.

The two Live feeds will come from the 4000-capacity Ruaraka Stadium which will host double header matches starting with the early kick off clash between 2012 Champions Tusker against Bandari. Promoted side KRA will then entertain second from bottom Muhoroni Youth who are still looking for their first point of the new season. Both matches will be played on Saturday.

Other matches on the day will see Mathare United host KCB with the former looking to build on their 1-0 win over Bandari last weekend while the Bankers coach Abdallah Juma still in pursuit for his team’s first three points of the season.

Ulinzi Stars coach Salim Ali must be feeling the heat in spite of not having lost a match this season. The Soldiers have drawn all their three matches this, a run of results good enough for 11th position where they find themselves. They will be gunning for their win of the season when they host Robinson Ofuokwo’s Nairobi City Stars who were held 1-1 by KCB last weekend.

With Sony Sugar and Gor Mahia not in action this weekend, second-placed Sofapaka and Western Stima who are fourth on the log both have a chance to move to the summit of the league when they tackle Chemelil and Nakuru AllStars respectively. Both teams got back to winning ways last weekend with Sam Timbe’s Sofapaka mauling Nakuru AllStars 3-0 while Western Stima collected a 2-1 success over Thika United with their new coach Henry Omino watching from the stands.

A win for Sofapaka will put them on the summit at least until Sony get back to action while a defeat could as well see the Sugar men from Chemelil move to the top.

Nakuru All Stars sacked coach Oliver Page after their poor start to the season which has seen them lose all their three matches conceding 7 goals and not finding the back of the net even once. Assistant coach Peter Okidi will take charge of the team on temporary terms.

A total of 41 goals have been scored since the beginning of the season with Sofapaka leading the scoring chats with 8 goals while Nakuru AllStars have conceded the most (7). The only defenses yet to be breached thus far are those for table topping Sony Sugar and defending champions Gor Mahia. The two are yet to concede any goal.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!

Standard Chartered Launches 2014 Road to Anfield Kenya Edition

Media Combined team celebrate winning Plare in Road to Anfield tourney last year

The 2014 Kenyan edition of the Standard Chartered Road to Anfield 5-aside football tournament will be played on the weekend of 15-16^th March, 2014 at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS).

The tournament which will be on its 2^nd edition after the inaugural leg last year will see 32 teams compete for this year’s trophy which will guarantee 7 lucky players an all-expenses paid trip to Anfield, an iconic stadium and the home of Liverpool Football Club.

A total of 25 teams out of the 32 will be drawn from the bank’s branches with the 7 remaining slots reserved for local media houses.

“We are ready to kick off the 2014 edition after a highly successful tournament last year,” said Standard Chartered CEO Lamin Manjang during the launch of the tournament at the bank’s offices today.

Among the media teams who will compete for the honours include the Standard Media, Nation Media Group, Mediamax, KBC, Radio Africa, Royal Media and Capital. They will compete against Stanchart teams christened with names like Oh Yes, Checker Mates, Phoenix, Black Wallets, Kenyatta Avenue among others.

The games will be played in a round-robin format with 8 groups of 4 teams each. Winners and runners up of every group will advance to the knockout stage with respective winners moving to the quarters, semis and finals respectively. Pan Africa Life Insurance won last year's edition after edging out Moi Airbase 2-0 in post-match penalties.

Every team will have seven players, 5 active and 2 reserves, with each game lasting 4 minutes each half. There will be penalty kicks in the event of a stalemate . “All the seven members of a team will travel to Anfield plus two other select players. If a media team wins, two Stanchart players will travel along with them and vice-versa,” said Manjang.

In addition to the once in a lifetime UK trip, the winning team will also get to watch an EPL match at the stadium. The players will also receive professional training from some of the club’s past legends and coaches prior to the grand finale international tournament at Anfield on May 13th where they will face 13 other teams drawn from around the world.

The Standard Chartered Trophy-Road to Anfield tournament is run in partnership by Standard Chartered Bank, the main sponsors of Liverpool Football Club.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!

European Leagues Review: Liverpool’s Title Push Gathers Momentum, Bayern and Juventus Cruising in Bundesliga and Serie A Title Races

ENGLAND

Liverpool ended their bogey run against Southampton by claiming a 3-0 success at the St. Mary’s, their first since 2003. The victory helped the Reds leapfrog Manchester City and Arsenal into the second position in the race for the Barclays Premier League title. The Merseyside outfit scored through Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and captain Steven Gerard to move to within 4 points of league leaders Chelsea who cemented their top position with a 3-1 win at Fulham earlier in the day. Andre Schurrle became the third German to hit a hat-trick in the Premier League as he scored all the three goals in the West London derby. Irish international Jonathan Walters converted a 76^th minute penalty to lead Stoke to a 1-0 win over Arsenal who dropped to third on the log while Tottenham piled more misery on relegation-threatened Cardiff City with a solitary goal win from Roberto Soldado. Christian Benteke netted a brace for Aston Villa in their 4-1 win over Norwich City.

SPAIN

The biggest match of the weekend, the Madrid derby, pitting league leaders Real Madrid and city rivals Atletico Madrid ended on a 2-2 stalemate. Karim Benzema gave visiting Real Madrid fans something to cheer about in as early as the 3^rd minute when he side footed a cross from Angel Di Maria into the back of the net but their lead lasted for only 25 minutes as Koke drew the home team level with a lovely finish from inside Real’s penalty area. Diego Simeone’s side then took the lead just before the interval, captain Gabi thundering in a pile driver past a helpless Diego Lopez but an 82^nd goal from Cristiano Ronaldo ensured the spoils were shared. Barcelona took full advantage of the shared points between the two Madrid teams by thundering past Almeria 4-1 to reduce the gap between them and leaders Real to one point. Alexis Sanchez, Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol and Xavi were all on the scoresheet for Pep Guardiola’s men. Champions League-chasing Athletico Bilbao hit Granada 4-0 while Levante and Sevilla were only other teams who registered victory among the teams in the top 10 with 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Osasuna and Real Sociedad respectively.

GERMANY

League leaders Bayern Munich edged closer to retaining their Bundesliga title with a resounding 5-1 win over Schalke 04 at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Dutchman Arjen Robben hit a sublime hat-trick with Mario Mandzukic and David Alaba also finding the back of the net for the unbeatable Bavarians who ensured the gap at the top is kept at 20 points with only 33 points remaining for contention. Borussia Dortmund went back to winning ways with a 3-0 humbling of visiting Nurnberg but there was more despair for Sami Hyypia’s Bayern Munchen who went down 1-0 to visiting Mainz. Hoffenheim were the biggest winners of the Bundesliga matchday 23 as they Wolfsburg 6-2 to end coach Dieter Hecking side’s three-game winning run. Werder Bremen put a huge dent on Hamburger’s survival hopes with a 1-0 win while Stuttgart’s poor run when they lost 2-1 at Eintracht Braus, their 8^th loss in a row.

ITALY

AC Milan gave a spirited fight but wasted too many chances against Juventus who claimed three points at the San Siro with a 2-0 success. The Rossoneri had one too many chances to put the game beyond Juventus’ reach even before half time but poor finishing was their main undoing as the Old Lady took the lead a minute before the interval courtesy of Fernando Lllorente. Carlos Tevez netted his 15^th goal of the season 8 minutes after the hour mark to secure the points for the run-away Serie A leaders. Second and third-placed AS Roma and Napoli both lost points, the former involved in barren draw against Inter Milan while the latter drew 1-1 at Livorno. Parma’s push for Europa League continued when they nicked Sassuolo 1-0 while Cagliari gave themselves some breathing space from the relegation zone with a 3-0 thrashing of Udinese.

FRANCE

Edison Cavani scored on his return from injury as league leaders PSG continued to push for their 4^th Ligue 1 title with a 2-0 win over Olympique Marseille. The Argentine netted in the 79^th minute after Maxwell had put the defending champions in the lead five minutes after the restart. Monaco lost ground in the title chase losing 2-0 at Saint Etienne who are pushing for Champions League football. Lille edged out Ajaccio 3-2 in a five-goal thriller with Salomon Kalou grabbing a hat-trick and Gadji Tallo netting the two goals for the rock bottom Ajaccio.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!