As Silver, Civil clash in first FDH Bank Premiership LL derby
The capital city will be divided as football fans trekkle to Civo stadium this Saturday from the first Lilongwe derby of the 2026 FDH Premiership season.
This is a fixture where previous form doesn’t count as stars are born.
Silver strikers carry the advantage heading into this Saturday’s fixture as the central bankers are in fine form currently occupying second position, level on points(13) with Mighty Wanderers who lead on goal difference.
The Central Bankers have won four games, drawing once and losing once reaching this far.
They have also been clinical in front of goal banging in 10 goals and just conceding twice.
As for Civil, they have seen their fine start to the season crumble in just a space of three weeks.
Th civil servants have lost three back-to-back games, a situation that is mounting pressure on head coach Abbas Makawa and his backroom.
They say insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results, so obviously on Saturday, coach Abbas Makawa will have to ring the all-important changes if results are to be achieved on home soil.
Revenge is what the servants need as they lost both fixtures last season, going down 2-0 away and 1-0 at home.
The stats
In the past 28 meetings between the two sides, the Central Bankers have dominated the fixture wining 13 of those matches while Civil have won eight.
7 matches have ended in draws.
The Bankers have also been ruthless when faced with the goal netting an impressive 36 goals, while the servants have found the back of the net on 26 occassions.
Key talking points
Saturday’s fixture carry an important statistic for one Yankho Billiati who swapped yellow for sky blue at the start of the season.
Billiati will be returning to area 9 for the first and surely all the focus will be on him and another former civil servant Festus Duwe who also switched from area 9 to area 47.
Potential match winners
Silver’s strength this season has been the ability to find the goals from multiple streams.
All of Silver’s attacking players have been in fine form banging the goals for fun.
On Saturday, coach Peter Mgangira will have to turn to forwards Charles Chipala and Festus Duwe while captain Zebron Kalima will have to keep the engine room running.
For Civil, this far, captain Righteous Banda has been the most consistent player starting all games this season.
And on Saturday, coach Abbas Makawa will be hoping that his veteran captain shows up for the party to keep the supply lines open for Madalitso Maso and Frank Chizuze upfront.
Bookmakers favourite
On paper, Silver Strikers look the better side, but this is no ordinary fixture.
This is a fixture that has divided families before.
Its the first Lilongwe Derby of the 2026 FDH Bank Premiership season.
Who grabs the Capital City’s bragging rights?
