Bandari vs Sofapaka is another Kenya Premier League fixture you should add to your watchlist in matchweek 2.
Sofaka were relentless in the season opener against returning Champions Gor Mahia. But can they build on their good performance to edge out Bandari in the first home game of the 2023/23 KPL season?
New Sofapaka coach Francis Haringingo hopeful for the first win
While Sofapaka could not hold onto a 0-1 lead against city rivals Gor Mahia at Karasari in a game that ended 1-1, their performance was commendable.
However, laxity set in deep into the second half and Kogalo took advantage of it to punish the visitors for an equalizer.
Sofapaka will now host Bandari in round 2 on 1st September 2023.
The new Sofapaka head coach Francis Haringingo Christian is hopeful his side can implement lessons learnt from the season opener against Kogalo ahead of their first home game of the 2023/24 Kenya Premier League season.
Overall, Sofapaka were outstanding, opening the scoring against Kogalo to the upset of restless fans.
Coming to this second game of 2023/24, Sofapaka boast massive home support against a team that will travel over 450 kilometres to the capital.
Bandari looking to continue their dominance over Sofapaka
We are going for a win against @BandariOfficial https://t.co/pTO2fefzh8@OyandoRonny @Officialfkfpl @laliga @mediaguruh #batotobamungu #fkfpl #bandarifc pic.twitter.com/IW6KxpWKhl
— Sofapaka FC (@FC_Sofapaka) August 31, 2023
Bandari FC could not contain the fire that Tusker FC brought to their doorstep in the season opener.
Even worse was the fact that the visitors could not take advantage of a 10-man Bandari FC from the 57th minute to turn the tables.
In previous Bandari vs Sofapaka or Bandari matchups, the Costarioans had the most wins. The visitors won 8 of the previous duels, losing 5 times to Sofapaka.
Interesting to note is that Bandari won the last two encounters with Sofapaka, home and away.
Tutakua Jijini Nairobi, Ijumaa hii kumtembelea Paka mla panya. pic.twitter.com/N84FHjxdB9
— Bandari Football Club (@BandariOfficial) August 30, 2023
Thus, this Bandari vs Bandari is a question of can the Dockers dust themselves up from the defeat in the season opener against Tusker and stage a comeback against Batoto ba Mungu in the capital, Nairobi.
Bandari vs Sofapaka lineups
There are no official lineups yet for the Bandari vs Sofapaka KPL clash but here are our predicted lineups for the encounter:
Sofapaka
- Goalkeeper: Wilson Obungu
- Defenders: Idrissa Rajabu, James Situma, Abdulatif Omar, Edgar Ochieng
- Midfielders: Mohammed Kilume, Brian Magonya, Ibrahim Kajumba, Ndemi Keegan
- Strikers: Michael Oduor, Bob Mugalia
Bandari
- Goalkeeper: J. Ochuka
- Defender: E. Satulo, M. Siraj, A.Juma, A. Amai
- Midfielder: S. Amubwombe, F. Origa, S.Nahimana, A. Hassan
- Strikers: J. Kinyanjui, J. Waithira
Bandari vs Sofapaka – A historical inter-city clash but who will win?
Bandari vs Sofapaka brings two city giants to Loggerheads. Sofapaka will represent Kenya's capital Nairobi in this clash while Bandari will travel all the way from the city town of Mombasa.
So, before we look at the predicted Bandari vs Sofapaka lineups, here are the best three predictions for the Kenya Premier League matchweek 2 fixture:
Both teams to score
Bandari have the superior H2H in this matchup against Sofapaka. However, playing away from home despite winning the last two encounters makes it difficult to hand the visitors an edge here.
Sofapaka had a good game in their season opener, so we think this will be a fairly even game with goals expected on both ends.
Sofapaka FC to score first
Looking at the stats from the season opener on both ends, we think Sofapaka have set a strong precedence ahead of this first home game of the season.
The hosts staged a relentless fight against KPL reigning champions Gor Mahia to go level 1-1 while Bandari suffered a narrow defeat of 0-1 against Tusker who missed the title race by a point last season.
With that, our second Bandari vs Sofapaka prediction backs the hosts to open the scoring in matchweek 2 when they host Bandari in the capital.
Sofpaka to win
While Sofaka were considered the away team in their season opener against Gor Mahia, the match was played in Nairobi City, the home for both teams.
Thus, this is another home game for Sofapaka, so it should come with a lot of familiarity for the hosts, massive support notwithstanding. We are backing Sofapaka to win the clash.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
