Matchday 9 promises to be thrilling
1. A tough trip awaits Nsoatreman
Accra Great Olympics are unbeaten in their last 16 home fixtures spanning from last season. They have won 10 and drawn 6. After matchday one stalemate against Bofoakwa, Oly Dade has won their last 3 at the Accra Sports Stadium having scored 5 and conceded none. It will be a difficult afternoon considering the hot form Great Olympics are in at home.
Nsoatreman on the other hand have a game in hand yet still top the table with a point separating them from second place Aduana Stars.
“We aim to stay in the GPL. Our owner and financier have stressed that we should make every effort to maintain our position in the league”, says coach Maxwell Konadu. At this rate and with this kind of performance, Nsoatreman will play in the 2024/2025 betPawa Premier League.
2. Will Aduana continue their free-scoring form against the beleaguered Heart of Lions
With ten goals scored in their last three games, Aduana’s attack is proving to be the best. Isaac Mintah and Emmanuel Gyamfi are proving to be the deadly duo now in the league. With a combined 10 goals 10, the duo are in impeccable form. Isaac Mintah is comfortably leading the top scorer’s chat with 7 goals. while the experience Emmanuel Gyamfi has 3.
Can Heart of Lions stop this deadly duo?
3. Nations FC needs a different mentality in their away games
They were perfect on Wednesday afternoon as everything they touched turned into gold. The 4-0 thrashing off RTU helped them climb out of the relegation zone. Nations FC are terrific at home and terrible at away.
A trip to the wounded Bofo is a huge test for them. A different mentality is all that Kasim Ocansey Mingle has to give to his chaps as they are at the bottom of the away log with 0 points having lost all four and conceded 4.
Boafoakwa on the other side was discolored by Aduana and will be eager to bounce back.
4. Are we in for another goal fest?
Matchday 8 proved to be the best and most exciting day since the commencement of the season as a whooping 28 goals were scored. Home teams delivered by scoring 20 goals while the away teams also scored 8. No Matchday so far was extremely exciting like Matchday 8. Just eleven goals were scored in Matchday 4. Fixtures like RTU vs Bechem United, Heart of Lions vs Aduana, Kotoko vs Dreams and Bibiani Gold Stars vs Accra Lions all promise to produce goals on paper.
5 . Kotoko needs to make Baba Yara a fortress
Teams feared playing against Kotoko at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium but have been recently enjoying life in Kumasi.
Medeama was the last team to beat Kotoko (2-0), on MD 23 in March 2023. Twelve GPL games have been played since then, 10 draws and just 2 wins.
Prosper Ogum and his lads must make Baba Yara Stadium a fortress if they seriously want to challenge for the title. Playing against poor Dreams is the perfect match to start making Baba Yara a citadel.
6. Has Martin Koopman turned a corner?
Some Phobia fans even talked of the comeback of Samuel Boadu when things were looking awful for Hearts of Oak. They started the season poorly as they ended the week in the relegation zone four different times before MD8.
Phobia looked great on Wednesday afternoon, they created numerous goals scoring opportunities but were able to find the back of the net on three occasions.
Martin Koopman even said that performance was the team’s best in their home games this season.
Karela will be another tough game for Phobia. Has Martin Koopman turned the corner?
7. Kofi Asmah and Nurudeen Abdulai’s partnership is not the finished article yet
The back four of Kofi Asmah, Nurudeen Abdulai, Hamidu Fatawu and Kamaradini Mamudu looked lost against Hearts of Oak.
They were nowhere to be found when Hearts of Oak counter-attacked them.
Nurudeen Abdulai left Kofi Asmah all the time with Hearts of Oak’s second goal as evidence. Evans Adotey must address the centre-back partnership well before they face the giants on the continent. Medeama’s defence has conceded 10 goals in seven matches so far. A trip to Legon Cities will test their defence once again.
8. RTU are conceding goals for fun
Seventeen goals have been scored against RTU. Oh, yeah, 17 good goals conceded in just 8 games. This is how horrible RTU looks now. They are the worst team defensively. The next worst defensive team is Accra Lions, with 12 conceded.
RTU has scored 11 which makes them the second-best team in terms of goal-scoring after Aduana (14).
RTU hosts Bechem United who comes with forwards Emmanuel Avonyor, Clinton Duodu, Cephas Mintah and Augustin Okrah ready to add salt to RTU’s injury.
9. Nurudeen Amadu has work to do concerning Samartex’s away form.
Samartex blew away Legon Cities 3-0 in midweek. It was so comfortable to the extent that they won both halves. They have looked so perfect when playing at home with all 4 games played at home won but their away form is a major concern that must be addressed by Nurudeen Amadu.
Samartex has won just 2 away games in their entire history in the betPawa Premier League vs (King Faisal and Kotoku Royals). Both teams were relegated last season, this shows how poor Samartex are when playing away from the Nsenkyire Sports Arena.
A visit to Berekum to play Chelsea is a daunting task on Sunday afternoon.
