Pre Match report
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers are enjoying a better season than their perennial rivals, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets sitting second on the log table and they are 7 points ahead of Kalisto Pasuwa’s side after playing 22 games each.
Statistically, powered by Isaac Kaliati’s wizardly, the Nomads have had a season to remember, scoring a total of 43 goals, playing them slightly above leaders, Silver Strikers, conceding just 11 goals. On the other hand, Bullets are fourth on the log table with 37 points from 22 games, they are enduring a difficult season [compared to their previous seasons], scoring just 28 goals in 22 outings, conceding 15 goals along the process.
It’s suffice to say that the defending Champions’ performance has been pummeled by the team’s deficiency in attacking creativity and profligacy of the attacking players, evidenced by the absence of the member of their squad in the best playmakers in the league this season.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ Isaac Kaliati is enjoying a season of his life, leading the scoring chart after plundering 14 goals in 20 games and he has provided 8 assists, just one below his teammate, Gaddie Chirwa.
Babatunde Adepoju is the top scorer for Bullets this season, scoring half of Kaliati’s total goals [7]. The forthcoming Derby presents a chance to both teams, for Wanderers, to prove their title ambition and/or for Bullets, to send message of their intent to defend the title.
Heading into the headline-hogging fixture, Kalisto Pasuwa’s side is feeling some spell of consistency that the coach has been craving for, winning four of their last five league games. They beat Chitipa United 4-2, CRECK Sporting Club 4-3, Baka City 1-0, Mafco FC 1-0 but they dropped points against Mzuzu City Hammers.
Turning to the blue side, since the departure of the Burundian gaffer, Mswazirimo Ramadan, it has been a novelty to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, maintaining consistency for about three months. Winning 10 of their last 14 league games propelled them into the championship pipe but they are going into the weekend’s fixture after a morale-sapping result against Karonga United.
“We have so many games to play. We have to redeem ourselves, encourage one another, everything is possible in football. We need our supporters more than before; they need to push us. They should come in large numbers as they have been doing.”
On the title race, “We are still there in contention, we will fight until the end. The players did everything to score [against Karonga United.] Sometimes, it doesn’t go to your favor, we had our chances and we could have scored. We didn’t expect to lose here but this is football.”
The much-anticipated Blantyre Derby hasn’t been falling short of dramas and hype in recent years. None of the team has been superior to another team in the last three years in league matches. However, overall, Bullets have won 22 games while Wanderers have won 14 times in all competitions since 2008.
After the fixture produced stalemates in the last four league meetings, fans  will be itching to see one team claiming three points over another. FCB Nyasa Big Bullets were the last team to bag all the points on a league Derby when Anthony Mfune came off the bench to score in the closing stages of the game in 2022 after Nyangulu cancelled Chimwemwe Idana’s early goal.
Wanderers’ only league Derby win was in 2020 when now CRECK Sporting Club’s striker, Vincent Nyangulu’s bullet header ended the Nomads’ 8-year wait for the league win over their neighbors.
In the first round of this season, points were shared after a 1-all draw with Isaac Kaliati scoring for the Nomads while Patrick Mwaungulu scored for Bullets.
In 2023, each team won two points from the fixture after both games ended in 1-all and barren stalemate in the second round and first round respectively. Stanley Sanudi scored a beauty in the first half but Maxwell Gastin Phodo scored early in the second half.
