FOOTBALL FKF Premier League: AFC Leopards and five teams that must wake up in the second leg

As the FKF Premier League returns after the festive break, there are a number of teams that must get it right in the second leg or they will end up facing the dreaded relegation

The FKF Premier League returns this weekend for the last first-leg round of fixtures amid a tough battle at both ends of the table.

Gor Mahia headed to the festive break sitting comfortably at the top with 34 points, five ahead of second-placed Posta Rangers, and seven more than Kakamega Homeboyz, KCB, and Nairobi City Stars who are all tied on 27.

At the bottom end of the table, only four points separate 12th-placed Ulinzi Stars and basement side Nzoia Sugar.

It, therefore, means there is a lot at stake in the second leg where another poor run from the bottom sides will lead to relegation.

Ahead of the second leg of the season, Pulse Sports highlights teams that cannot afford another poor run.

AFC Leopards

Ingwe only won two of their 16 games in what was a difficult start to the campaign. Leopards had to wait until matchday eight to record their first win and the second victory arrived seven games later.

This is a recipe for disaster and another run like this in the second leg will only make matters worse. Tomas Trucha’s men need to hit the ground running in the second leg and have some consistency if they have to avoid spending the entire season in a relegation battle.

Leopards are 14th on the table on 15 points, just two more than Nzoia Sugar, and any bad run in the second leg could see them slip further down the table.

Creating chances and scoring goals was their biggest problem in the first leg when they managed 12 goals, the second lowest in the division, and they are hoping to cure that by acquiring a creative midfielder and striker in the mid-season transfer window.

After their recruitment mess four months ago, they cannot afford to get it wrong this time round.

Shabana

Just like Leopards, Tore Bobe also had a tough start to the season in what was their return to the top flight after 17 years in the cold.

Shabana managed three wins in the first leg but eight defeats and five draws leave them 16th on the 18-team table on 14 points, one ahead of the bottom-placed team.

They head into 2024 without a coach and with a squad that badly needs strengthening. It has been reported that Shabana plan to unveil their new coach at the end of this weekend’s round of matches and the new man has his work cut out.

Shabana averaged one win in a month but that statistic will have to change if they want to avoid seeing their return to the Premier League end quickly.

Whoever replaces Sammy Okoth in the dugout must find a winning formula quickly and he will have start by building from the back given they only kept one clean sheet in the first leg.

Shabana let in 23 goals, the second-highest in the league so far, and given they were also not prolific, it became tough to win matches. There have been reports of a clear-out this month but the replacements must be of great quality to help their cause.

Sofapaka

Sofapaka have brought in highly-experienced former KCB, Gor Mahia and Posta Rangers coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno to help save them from relegation after ending the first leg second from bottom.

Batoto ba Mungu managed four wins but 10 defeats leave them clutching at the straws even this early in the season.

A go-slow over delayed salaries plus a lack of depth have conspired to slow their campaign and after the sacking of Burundian Francis Harigingo, interim coach Ezekiel Akwana could not do much to change the situation.

Zico, therefore, has a big job on his hands and like many of the struggling teams, he will be hoping for some reinforcements.

Tusker

It might appear unfair for Tusker to be on the list given how they ended the first leg but how they played most of it cannot be ignored.

The Brewers entered into the season as one of the title contenders but went through a torrid run that had at some point left coach Robert Matano facing the sack.

Before their six-match unbeaten run between November and December, Tusker had won just three of their first 10 games which had left them on the second page of the table but they improved towards the end of the year, winning four and drawing two to move to seventh on the log.

Tusker have 25 points, nine behind Gor Mahia, but their recent good run will give them confidence of climbing further up the table.

Matano will, therefore, hope that that was not just a blip and ensure consistency to return his side to where they belong.

Murang’a Seal

After a good start to their debut Premier League campaign, Murang’a Seal fell off in the last two months of 2023 which led to the dismissal of coach Gabriel 'Kingi’ Njoroge.

Murang’a went on a run of six games without a win, three draws and as many defeats, moving from third place at the start of November to ninth when the season took a break.

After scoring 10 goals in as many games, the goals also dried up for Murang’a who managed just two in their next six matches, something they must work on in the second leg.

Granted they are still new to the division, they showed in the first leg that they can match the established sides, hence the need to regain consistency to avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle that looked unimaginable two months ago.

Kenya Police

Kenya Police are the other team that started the season as one of the title contenders but now find themselves 13 points behind the leaders.

Police stayed true to their character of big spending and brought in a number of top names in the off-season but that did little to help their course.

If anything, it made matters worse as former coach Francis Baraza struggled to fit all of them in the starting 11.

It did not yield the results and cost Baraza his job with his replacement Zdravko Logarusic not doing any better.

As the year came to a close, it became clear that the ‘Galacticos’ were their main problem as some of them defied the coach and the Croatian tactician also did not help himself when he fell out with his assistant Salim Babu.

As the season resumes, it is still not known if ‘Loga’ will return to the dugout as he had fallen out with some of his players, assistant, and a section of the club hierarchy before he left for his holidays.

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