RED HOT ZESCO UNITED MEET SHARP RAZOR IN ABSA SEMIS

Absa cup defending champions, ZESCO United will tomorrow be aiming to electrocute FAZ/Eden University National Division One league leaders, Konkola Blades in the Absa cup semi-finals.

ZESCO United will turn up for tomorrows crucial encounter at the back of seven consecutive league victories maintaining a seven-point gap at the top of the Super League table.

On the other hand, Konkola Blade’s sharp cutting edge in the National Division One has seen the Chililabombwe based side sail to the top of the lower league with 43 points while second placed Kansanshi Dynamos have 41.

ZESCO United coach Numba Mumamba has warned his players not to underrate Blades who sliced through Super League giants Forest Rangers to qualify to the semi-finals of the competition.

The Ndola based league giants will be hoping to go past Konkola Blades in 90 minutes after laboring to sweep aside Kansanshi Dynamos through penalty shootouts in the quarterfinals stage of the competition.

Mumamba knows that victory against Dynamos will take him one step closer to lifting the second trophy he won with Zanaco four years ago.

During his pre-match comments, the ZESCO United gaffer emphasized the need to take tomorrow’s encounter like a final.

With competition in the team mounting each passing phase, Mumamba will be having sleepless nights to come with his best XI ahead of tomorrows mouthwatering semifinal.

In goal, Mumamba will be tempted to give Toaster Nsabata another opportunity to start after the former Zanaco goalkeeper inspired ZESCO United to victory over Kansanshi Dynamos after saving a penalty and scoring the teams winning goal.

At the back, the ZESCO United coach maybe tempted to revert to the same back four that kept Green Buffaloes at bay during last Saturday’s league victory.

The return of Adrian Chama is likely to be a source of discomfort for Mumamba especially when picking who starts between the Green Buffaloes defender and Solomon Sakala.

Clement Mwape, Simone Silwimba and Fackson Kapumbu are likely to see light when the team is announced on Saturday morning.

In the middle of the park, ZESCO United will be missing the creativity of attacking midfielder Thabani Kamusoko, while Donashano ‘Ichamilando’ Malama will be missed for his power, energy and physic.

In their place, Samuel Sikaonga is likely to get the nod as replacement for Malama while Tafadzwa Rusike will be facing massive competition from Bruce Musakanya to fill the void left by Kamusoko.

Kelvin Kampamba, John Chinga’andu will be expected to lead the charge upfront and ensure that proper service is delivered to the strikers.

There is likely to be a big fight for places upfront with Chitiya Mususu gunning to make his debut for the former league champions.

Enock Sakala, Winstone Kalengo, David Molinga, Jesse Were, John Makwata will all be hoping to be given the responsibility to dismantle Konkola Blades.

Victory against Konkola Blades will see ZESCO United book a place in the finals of the 2021 Absa competition where they will meet the winners between Zanaco and Lusaka Dynamos.

ZESCO United will tomorrow face Konkola Blades in the Absa cup semi-finals to be played at the Arthur Davies stadium, Kitwe.

Author: Desmond Katongo