Saturday’s Kampala derby will not define the season for SC Villa or Express FC but it is a chance for both teams, and their managers, to show why they are a force to be reckoned with.

It is already clear these two sides will be in the mix for the title and both will want to make a statement of intent.

What adds even more spice to the occasion is that Wassa Bossa and Shafiq Bissaso both go into their much-anticipated first meeting in Uganda football this season with impressive records after  their good run in first ten league games.

Lumped together, it is hard to pick much between the clubs. Split apart, though, and the differences in terms of bragging rights are all too glaring.

Express FC flaunt their royal ties in the faces of their archrivals much as they do their superior count of league championships won. Express also boast a wider support base than SC Villa do, all of which coalesces to make a good case for the Red Eagles claims of supremacy.

Express, of course, are the older institution by some 18 years, and never miss the chance to play the ‘seniority’ card where convenient.

Much will be expected at the Nambolee Stadium on Saturday in this long rivalry between Uganda’s two oldest and biggest clubs. Players have been immortalised, idolized, mortified and at the same time subdued in previous encounters, which of the present generation of players will write their names in gold as part of the biggest football history in Uganda.

Finally,by Saturday noontime Nambolee is expected to be packed with teeming, anticipating and excited fans, a few hours ahead of kickoff.

The atmosphere as often will be carnival-like, with pre-match music rock shows thumping in the background and enlivening the mood in the terraces.