By Admin,

History has shown many times that teams form does not matter when teams like Yanga and Simba clash in the Dar Es Salaam derby as it is a do or die match that the best team of the day carries the mantle and the prestige home .

Fierce clash  between a traditional  rivals Yanga and Simba will be held Saturday at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam in the  fourth round game for both teams in the Tanzania Vodacom Premier .

Hosts   Yanga will go into the match with minimal   pressure rivals like  rivals Simba  who have won not won   in three matches they played so this season

Yanga have  six  points after winning two matches and losing  one game against  Mtibwa Sugar Club in Morogoro Republic of opening day on Sept. 20.

In addition to these points Yanga’s   strength is in their   squad which has been vibrant  in the  four games they have played so far  which included crushing  defending champions Azam champions 3-0 in  Dar es Salaam.

Simba took the big leap of taking their entire squad for a serious training camp in South Africa in preparations for the do or die game .

The hopes of Simba fans rest on the shoulders of   Ugandan striker  Emmanuel Okwi, who has been a major player  since he returned to the team this season when he left rivals   Yanga  a move that created alot of controversy and made  the player unhappy because of abuse from Yanga fans.

Okwi seems to be the hope and expectation are high for the highly rated player as Kenyan striker of Raphael Mungai  Kiongera, is out injured .

Simba will also depend on the likes of   Shabani Siga, Jonas Mkude, Haruna Chanongo, keeper Ivo Mapunda who reportedly is  fit after broken finger and in the attack will be Amisi Tambwe who since the start of this season  has scored just one goal on Sept. 21 against Coastal Union.

Despite this Simba rivals Yanga  will go into the game with many  options available to chose from  by coach Marcio Maximo as he tries to emulate the strategy he used against  Azam.

In their recent  matches  Suva has been at a high level corresponding well to Mrisho  Ngasa something that will trouble the Yanga defense  with the likes strikers Geilson Santana Santos , Hamisi Kiiza and either Andrey Coutinho another Brazilian who has been at maximum potential.

Last season both teams drew  3-3 draw at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, then later managed a 1-1 draw.

For the record anything can happen and despite the form  that seems to favour  Yanga,Simba cannot be written off in this Dar Es Salaam derby.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com